Dubai 'definitely' needs to have affordable segment

Trend should be welcomed as a sign of market maturity.

Affordable housing is the latest popular trend in Dubai's real estate market and there is no way for it to go but up, according to a top executive of Dubai Investments.
Khalid bin Kalban, managing director and chief executive officer of Dubai Investments, said demand for affordable housing units is on the rise and it should be welcomed as a sign of the growing maturity of Dubai's property market.
"The market definitely needs it... Dubai Investments has been in the affordable housing market for a long time now and we are just carrying out our plan," bin Kalban told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of an event recently.
He said the latest trend of affordability will go a long way in catapulting Dubai's real estate market to the next stage of its evolution.
Referring to Dubai Investments Park, or DIP, he said it is a perfect example of an area that has been a hotspot for affordable property and plots in the park are almost fully leased out.
Bin Kalban said it's only bound to get better at DIP and its surrounding areas because of three key factors - soon-to-open theme parks from Dubai Parks and Resorts, the growing operations of Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai South and DIP's proximity to the World Expo 2020 site.
"DIP is very well-positioned as far as location is concerned. That part of Dubai is growing and we are growing with it," he said, adding that eight hotels and other hotel apartments and a number of residential projects are coming up in DIP. "We have not seen any softening in our part of Dubai... that area has not slowed down - it has only grown," he said.
Union Properties
Bin Kalban, who is also chairman of Union Properties, said the Dubai Financial Market-listed firm is executing what it has promised the market; it is currently in the midst of carrying out its 10-year plan which was introduced two years ago.
Among the company's projects are Vertex Towers and a four-star hotel in Dubai Motor City, as well as retail expansion in Uptown Mirdif, which is expected to be launched within two months' time. Phase three of Green Community is also under construction.
Elaborating, bin Kalban said Vertex Towers, costing $300 million, is a high-rise development consisting of five towers and will contain 700 two- and three-bed apartments with a gross floor area of more than 1.32 million square feet, with some duplex units and 66,000 sq ft of retail space.
Referring to a $185 million extension of the Green Community West scheme at DIP, he said the project will contain 210 villas and 16 two- and three-bed apartments. It is due to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2017.
On the property market's general outlook, bin Kalban said it is "positive" in the medium to long term, yet there would be "hiccups along the way" owing to certain factors such as geopolitical issues in parts of the region and the drop in oil prices that have dampened investor sentiments. However, he believes these are only temporary and isn't necessarily worrying.
"The market has softened in 2015, no doubt about it," he said. "But once these hiccups disappear, everything will be back to normal," bin Kalban concluded.
- muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai