Special Report Contents

• GCC real estate sector struggles with low oil prices

• Weaker demand drives property slump

• UAE leads the region’s developers

No one understands the value of tall buildings better than Dubai.

Local developer Emaar Properties’ chairman Mohammed Alabbar has described that before the Burj Khalifa was launched in 2003, he proposed a 90-storey tower that was promptly dismissed by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who then was still the crown prince of Dubai.

Alabbar says he then commissioned a design that was more than 40 per cent taller than anything else in the world at the time. When he presented it again to Sheikh Mohammed, the answer was simply: “When can I see cranes on the site?”

Altogether, Dubai has 18 completed towers that are taller than 300 metres, with most opening between 2008 and 2013, as projects awarded during the emirate’s 2003-08 construction boom were completed. The most active contractors in the high-rise sector were Lebanon’s Arabian Construction Company (ACC), which has completed five 300-metre-plus towers, and Canada’s Brookfield Multiplex, which has finished four 300-metre-plus schemes.

High-rise focus

After three years of no new project launches, tall towers are back on the agenda for contractors working in Dubai as clients move forward with high-rise projects.

[The local] Emaar [Properties] has been the most active when it comes to developing new towers

The most recent is the 711-metre Dubai One tower that the local Meydan Group plans to develop as part of its 3.7-square-kilometre Meydan One scheme in the Nad al-Sheba area, which will also include a marina, a shopping mall, and the world’s longest indoor ski slope.

Meydan is also developing the 100-plus-storey Entisar tower. At the end of 2014, it awarded  Saudi Arabia’s El-Seif Engineering Contracting an estimated AED2bn ($545m) contract to build the tower, which will include serviced apartments, shops, swimming pools and garden areas. It will be built on Sheikh Zayed Road, next to the existing Fairmont hotel.

Emaar leads

Emaar has been the most active when it comes to developing new towers. Most recently, it awarded an estimated AED900m contract to build the Hills development in Dubai to Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC).

Located off Sheikh Zayed Road overlooking Emirates Golf Club, close to Emaar Business Park, Dubai Media City and Dubai Marina, the scheme involves building a common podium with six towers. Four will be residential towers and the other two will be serviced apartments and hotels managed by the developer’s subsidiary Vida Hotels.

In 2014, Emaar awarded ACC an estimated AED3bn deal to build the Address Residence Fountain Views development, which involves building three towers including a 220-metre-tall, 60-storey residential tower.

ACC also won an estimated $490m contract to build The Address Residence Sky View towers at the Downtown Dubai development last year. The twin-tower complex will have two towers that will be more than 230 metres tall and will link directly to the Dubai Metro and Dubai Mall.

Emaar also awarded CCC a deal to build the 65-storey Burj Vista towers in its Downtown Dubai district in 2014. In January 2013, it awarded Brookfield Multiplex a contract to build the Address The BLVD hotel and residential tower.

Burj 2020

Emaar is not the only firm developing high-rise schemes. Another upcoming tower is the Burj 2020. The project owner, the local Dubai Multi-Commodities Centre (DMCC), has approached contractors to discuss building the structure, which when completed will be the world’s tallest commercial tower.

Other high-rise projects are planned. The most high profile is the One Zabeel tower, which is being developed by the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD). In early February, ICD invited selected contractors to submit prequalification documents for the tower, which will be built in the World Trade Centre area. The building has been designed as a new landmark structure for Dubai, with Japanese firm Nikken Sekkei’s design being chosen ahead of proposals from at least three other leading international design firms.

The local Wasl is also developing an iconic structure. It plans to build a 60-storey tower close to the local Al-Fattan Properties’ new tower development off Sheikh Zayed Road, known as Wasl Tower. The scheme was approved by Sheikh Mohammed in February.

Nakheel projects

Local developer Nakheel is also working on high-rise schemes. In July, it received bids for a contract to build the Gateway towers project at the base of Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah. The first tower, known as the Tubular Tower, will be 261 metres tall with 61 storeys, including 46 above podium level with 520 apartment units. The Central Tower will be 211 metres tall with 49 floors and 429 apartments. The Beach Tower will be 205 metres tall with 48 floors and 313 apartments.

In November 2013, the local Arabtec Construction won a AED1.8bn deal for the construction of a mixed-use, high-rise tower on Sheikh Zayed Road. The 77-storey tower will be 369 metres tall and will offer more than 22,000 square metres of office space on 18 floors, and 908 square metres of retail area. It will also include a 350-room hotel and 83 serviced apartments, as well as 180 apartments.