There is no doubt that the UAE is home to some spectacular properties. From penthouse apartments to plush villas with sprawling gardens and incredible pools, it’s a real estate haven.
Each week, The National showcases some of the finest homes on offer in its Property of the Week. Here, we take a closer look at Dubai's truly remarkable The Floating Seahorse Villas.
The key details
The Floating Seahorse Villas development comprises 133 villas, which sit afloat off The World Islands. The properties, which are being sold for €20 million ($24m), are set across three storeys and 4,004 square feet, including an external deck area and coral gardens.
As of Tuesday, 131 of the 133 villas, which sleep up to eight people, were sold.
See a selection of underwater views from The Floating Seahorse Villas:
What's the story?
For many, the closest they'll come to own a coral garden at home is a high-maintenance fish tank. That will not be the case for owners of The Floating Seahorse Villas, a collection of properties that feature among the $5 billion The Heart of Europe project on Dubai's The World Islands.
The handover of the buoyant properties began at the end of 2020, with four villas floated each month. According to Josef Kleindienst, chairman of Kleindienst Group that is developing the project, The Floating Seahorse Villas will be ready to accept visitors and owners from the last quarter of 2021 onwards.
The properties are set across three floors, with underwater, sea and sky levels.
The underwater bedroom level is undoubtedly a primary selling point, with submerged rooms that can be used as either bedrooms or extra living spaces.
The lower level boasts floor-to-ceiling glass walls throughout, with incredible underwater views of the marine life and colourful coral reefs. A night light above the coral gardens allows for night-time reef and marine life visibility.
Guests enter via a foyer on the sea level, where they'll find a balance of indoor and outdoor living, with private decks at the front and back of the property. As well as unlimited sea vistas, residents will also enjoy Dubai skyline views, including glimpses of the Burj Khalifa.
An over-water hammock provides the perfect setting for relaxing al fresco, while looking over the coral garden underneath. Water access is possible via an in-sea ladder.
There is a fully equipped kitchen on the sea level, with a built-in fridge and appliances, as well as a sliding wall, which can be used to create a closed-off kitchen.
The top floor, or sky level, features a guest toilet, as well as a dining area, which has en-suite kitchen facilities. There is also a skylit ceiling, Jacuzzi, wall-mounted shower and sun lounging space.
The properties offer a balance of secluded island living with a connected community feel. The majority of the properties are connected via walkways to the heart-shaped Honeymoon Island, with access to a Portofino-inspired hotel yet to be completed.
The fully furnished Signature properties boast interiors designed by The Heart of Europe. Furniture is chosen from a selection of different brands, which can be customised by the owners.
What the brokers say ...
Do you anticipate people will live in The Floating Seahorse Villas full-time?
This is a tourist project and a second-home destination; it’s not a residential project. We are not assuming people are coming to live here, we are assuming people come for a nice holiday, a long weekend, a party or a celebration and then they go back home.
However, some owners may want to use their unit as one of their many primary residences, as it is fairly frequent for our clients to own many properties across the globe.
Do you think these are the most unique properties on the Dubai market?
The Floating Seahorse Villas are a world first, unique to the global market and Dubai. The floating villas offer many unique selling points; I wanted to see underwater treasures, marine life and the captivating underwater landscape without getting wet. A passion for creating the unimagined experience drove me to travel and study underwater projects globally.
Have the properties increased in value?
Those who originally purchased a Floating Seahorse Villa for Dh5m quadrupled their investment in 2020, as they were reselling for Dh20m, delivering favourable return on investment. The selling price further appreciated to Dh88m in December 2020, upon completion of phase one and handover commencing.
Has the design of the villas changed throughout the building process?
Originally, The Floating Seahorse Villas were made from steel, but are now made from maintenance-free, marine-grade concrete below the surface level and a super-light aluminium skeleton above water, with a Glass Reinforced Plastic cladding adding a high-end glossy yacht finish. Further design and testing has shown that a concrete shell provides a longer life of 100-plus years.
Are the properties adaptable to buyers' tastes?
The Signature Edition of The Floating Seahorse Villas are fully customisable and personalised to suit individual styles and tastes. Each Signature Edition villa will be bespoke and distinctive, allowing buyers to select from a variety of different premium quality finishes, ranging from flooring to kitchens and bathrooms, as well as interiors.
The coral gardens are affixed to the outside of the villas as an aquatic ecosystem, to attract marine life – including fish and turtles – to feed from it.
The coral reefs have been created by marine biologists and aquarists at the Marine Life Sciences Centre, to ensure the best shapes and textures to encourage coral growth.
How much interest has there been in the development?
Initially, we expected our No 1 customer would be European, however we have been pleased to witness an overwhelming interest from stakeholders throughout the GCC.
In terms of investors in the overall project, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are followed by Egyptians, Indians and French buyers in the top five, with further interest coming from as far afield as Brazil, China and the UK.
The UAE (46 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (18 per cent) are again on top when it comes to buying The Floating Seahorses Villas, followed by Kuwait (12 per cent), St Kitts and Nevis (12 per cent), and France (11 per cent). So far, we have sold 131 units sold out of 133.
- Josef Kleindienst, chairman of Kleindienst Group, The Heart of Europe
The biog:
Languages: Arabic, Farsi, Hindi, basic Russian
Favourite food: Pizza
Best food on the road: rice
Favourite colour: silver
Favourite bike: Gold Wing, Honda
Favourite biking destination: Canada
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
The biog
Favourite Quote: “Real victories are those that protect human life, not those that result from its destruction emerge from its ashes,” by The late king Hussain of Jordan.
Favourite Hobby: Writing and cooking
Favourite Book: The Prophet by Gibran Khalil Gibran
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
T20 World Cup Qualifier, Muscat
UAE FIXTURES
Friday February 18: v Ireland
Saturday February 19: v Germany
Monday February 21: v Philippines
Tuesday February 22: semi-finals
Thursday February 24: final
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh234,000 - Dh329,000
On sale: now
Game Of Thrones Season Seven: A Bluffers Guide
Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.
The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.
Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years.
THREE
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Quick facts on cancer
- Cancer is the second-leading cause of death worldwide, after cardiovascular diseases
- About one in five men and one in six women will develop cancer in their lifetime
- By 2040, global cancer cases are on track to reach 30 million
- 70 per cent of cancer deaths occur in low and middle-income countries
- This rate is expected to increase to 75 per cent by 2030
- At least one third of common cancers are preventable
- Genetic mutations play a role in 5 per cent to 10 per cent of cancers
- Up to 3.7 million lives could be saved annually by implementing the right health
strategies
- The total annual economic cost of cancer is $1.16 trillion
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
RESULT
Arsenal 2
Sokratis Papastathopoulos 45 4'
Eddie Ntkeiah 51'
Portsmouth 0
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The specs: 2019 Mini Cooper
Price, base: Dh141,740 (three-door) / Dh165,900 (five-door)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder (Cooper) / 2.0-litre four-cylinder (Cooper S)
Power: 136hp @ 4,500rpm (Cooper) / 192hp @ 5,000rpm (Cooper S)
Torque: 220Nm @ 1,480rpm (Cooper) / 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (Cooper S)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 4.8L to 5.4L / 100km
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
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