Hircon sells 79pc of 23Marina before commencement of work

The 90-storey residential apartment, coming up at the Dubai Marina, is thought to be one of the world's tallest residential buildings and has 288 duplex apartments, of which Hircon claims has sold 228 leaving only 60 apartments besides three penthouses to be sold.

The company that has kicked off the mega project has awarded the construction contract of over half Dh 500 million to Dubai Civil Engineering (DCE) that is due to complete the construction in 33 months time.

Talking to the Khaleej Times, Darshan Hiranandani, Director of Hircon said: "ever since we announced the conceiving of the project in 2005, we have since been marketing aggressively both in the region and overseas that has led to the positive results. About 30-40 per cent of our customers are from Dubai while the rest are from overseas including Russia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Western Europe and of course India and Pakistan.''

Our customers who paid the 10 per cent booking fee earlier have now also paid their first instalments with the construction having taking off, said Hiranandani.

The supply is much lesser than the demand and so it is not very difficult to sell residential of commercial apartments in Dubai, said Paul DeVylder, Regional Director of KEO International, the lead consultants adding that this apartment will provide the residents with an exclusive residential address totally private unlike others.

In fact, the apartments in 23 Marina are priced at Dh 950 to 1000 per sqft and the ones on the higher floors are priced at Dh 1,300 per sqft. The apartment also has 3 penthouses. It has been a mix of both investors and end users who have bought space in the apartment. Abid A Junaid, Executive Director of ETA Star Property Developers LLC said: "The 23 Marina is positioning itself as the world's top cosmopolis acclaimed for its innovative facilities and executive living. Conceiving and designing a 90-storey apartment has been a great challenge and now once this building comes up it is going to be our tribute to Dubai.