The developer behind Dubai Festival City is selling the first freehold homes on the site after restarting work on stalled buildings following the 2008 financial crisis.
Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate is selling four and five-bedroom villas starting from Dh4.8 million (US$1.3m) - the first to hit the market on a freehold basis on the north side of Dubai Creek.
It represents the latest sign of returning developer confidence in the city's luxury property market, which has benefited from rising demand for completed properties as well as an influx of funds from the wider Arab world.
The first batch of 24 townhouses to be sold at Al Badia Residences will be followed by the release of more houses and apartments over the next 18 months, according to Ian Plumley, the general manager of property sales at Dubai Festival City. Much of the demand is coming from regional investors.
"In the last nine to 12 months we have seen the premium coming to the top. Quality is selling," he said. "There are a lot of wealthy people living in Syria and Iran and they may not want to invest their wealth in their own countries now. Dubai is a safe haven."
Dubai Festival City helped to kick-start the emirate's six-year building boom in 2002 and at the time was billed as the biggest mixed-use development in the Middle East. The 1,300-acre site includes a vast shopping centre with 2 million square feet of retail space and about 1,000 apartments. It is also the new home for the Dubai Hard Rock Cafe.
Brokers and developers are reporting a sales activity increase in some prime Dubai property locations where prices have lost as much as half of their value since the 2008 market peak. Falling mortgage rates and the increased availability of completed units over the past year have started to lure buyers back to the market.
The first signs of rising rents for villa properties emerged during the first quarter of this year, with lease rates growing by about 3 per cent on the previous quarter, according to data from CBRE, the international property consultancy.
"At the peak of the boom, people were paying more for off-plan properties than completed ones, which didn't make any sense," said Craig Plumb, the regional head of research at Jones Lang LaSalle in Dubai. "It is good to see developers building first and then selling,"
Developers including Nakheel and Emaar Properties have this year started to sell new homes for the first time in four years. Last month, Nakheel launched Palm Views on the Palm island, a collection of 192 studio apartments aimed at younger residents. The developer has also announced plans to build new townhouses on the island. Emaar said it took just one day to sell all 224 of the apartments in its Panorama at The Views development last month.
The release of units for sale at Dubai Festival City comes just days after the emirate made more land available to foreign investors.
Two plots of land were released for foreign buyers in Dubai Investments Park on a leasehold basis for up to 85 years, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, disclosed on his website.
It was not clear whether the land was intended for commercial or residential use.
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
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On sale: Now
SUE%20GRAY'S%20FINDINGS
%3Cp%3E%22Whatever%20the%20initial%20intent%2C%20what%20took%20place%20at%20many%20of%20these%20gatherings%20and%20the%3Cbr%3Eway%20in%20which%20they%20developed%20was%20not%20in%20line%20with%20Covid%20guidance%20at%20the%20time.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22Many%20of%20these%20events%20should%20not%20have%20been%20allowed%20to%20happen.%20It%20is%20also%20the%20case%20that%20some%20of%20the%3Cbr%3Emore%20junior%20civil%20servants%20believed%20that%20their%20involvement%20in%20some%20of%20these%20events%20was%20permitted%20given%20the%20attendance%20of%20senior%20leaders.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22The%20senior%20leadership%20at%20the%20centre%2C%20both%20political%20and%20official%2C%20must%20bear%20responsibility%20for%20this%20culture.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20found%20that%20some%20staff%20had%20witnessed%20or%20been%20subjected%20to%20behaviours%20at%20work%20which%20they%20had%20felt%20concerned%20about%20but%20at%20times%20felt%20unable%20to%20raise%20properly.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20was%20made%20aware%20of%20multiple%20examples%20of%20a%20lack%20of%20respect%20and%20poor%20treatment%20of%20security%20and%20cleaning%20staff.%20This%20was%20unacceptable.%22%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
