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Drydocks World to build Underwater Hotels in Dubai

World Discus Hotel - Dubai Underwater Hotel

Underwater Hotels are the next big thing in luxury resort business, not to mention top tourist attraction. Residents and visitors of Dubai will soon have another luxury at their disposal, as underwater hotels are soon coming to Dubai.

Arabian Business reports that Drydocks World, the shipbuilding arm of Dubai World, has announced plans to build a series of underwater hotels in the Dubai.

Drydocks World said it has signed an agreement with a Swiss contractor to develop the World Discus Hotel, which is partly submerged under the sea. It will be first Dubai underwater hotel.

Underwater Hotels DubaiWorld Discus Hotels comprise of two discs – an underwater and above-water one. The two parts of the structure will be connected by three legs and a vertical shaft containing a lift and stairway.

The hotel “discs” are to be located up to 10m below the surface and will include 21 rooms next to an underwater dive center and bar.

Guests will be able to operate miniature vehicles from inside their rooms that will take blown-up photographs of the surrounding sea creatures.

The land station is located in the famous Jumeirah beach. This land station of the Dubai Underwater Hotel is the entry point to the hotel. It is from this important point, that the guests can gain admission into the hotel. The land station is in the shape of wave, on entering which, the guests get to view some high tech cinema presentation, on everything related to the aquatic life – as an introduction to what they are about to experience. Guests also get to know more on the underwater architecture of the hotel.

The station houses a few marine biology research labs, houses for the staff, parking spaces, and also a few conference centers. The connecting tunnel – almost 515 meters long, is another vital part through which people will be transported by a special train to the main hotel from the land station.

The third element which makes up the grand luxurious hotel is the heavenly suites. There are about 220 suites, which are all located underwater.

According to Drydocks World, BIG InvestConsult will provide the required technological expertise for the unusual concept.

 The World Discus Hotel is not technically the world’s first underwater hotel, but it is the most lavish and probably the best of underwater hotels built so far.
dubai mall open after coronavirus lock down

Nakheel to split from Dubai World by June

NakheelNakheel will be carved out of parent company Dubai World and become a government-owned entity by June, when its efforts to restructure $10.8bn in debt will be complete.

The indebted developer was at the heart of the debt problems suffered by its parent company Dubai World, which roiled global markets in November 2009 when it asked for a standstill on around $25bn in loans.
Nakheel’s inability to meet its obligations, in the wake of a property collapse and the global credit crunch, left it with billions of dirhams in unpaid bills to contractors and suppliers.

In March, Nakheel said it had paid AED4.6bn ($1.25bn) in overdue payments to trade creditors.

The developer plans to issue around AED5bn in Islamic bonds by the end of the second quarter to contractors and trade creditors.

More than 90 percent of trade creditors have agreed to a plan that would see Nakheel pay off its bills through a 40 percent cash payoff with the remaining 60 percent issued in the form of sukuk shares with an annual return of eight percent.

Lawyers in Dubai warned in March that investors and trade creditors may find themselves unable to pursue disputes against Nakheel in the Dubai World tribunal after the split from Dubai World.

Those with outstanding disputes may find themselves in legal limbo if the tribunal – which was set up to hear disputes linked to Dubai World – can no longer rule on cases related to Nakheel.

The developer behind Dubai’s iconic palm-shaped island said in April it had stopped selling real estate units in Dubai in order to focus on offering credit swap options to existing investors.

Nakheel offered credit swaps in the wake of Dubai’s real estate crash, to enable buyers to transfer cash from unfinished or halted developments to completed real estate.

From: Arabian Business

dubai expat life

House prices in Dubai approaching bottom

House prices in Dubai approaching bottom

Real estate prices in Dubai’s battered property market are bottoming out more than two years after the financial crisis sparked a slump that devastated values, an analyst has said.

Fifteen months on from the Dubai World debt crisis, which saw the state-owned conglomerate seek to alter terms on $24.9bn of debt, investor appetite is picking up, said Saeed Hashmi.

“We’re now a year on from the whole Dubai World situation. We’ve moved on, mature markets have stabilised again. Declines are slowing down, we’re getting close to the bottom of the market,” the head of valuation and advisory at Landmark Advisory said.

The emirate’s housing market has been in decline since 2009. The value of real estate deals in Dubai plunged 65 percent in 2010, data from Jones Lang LaSalle shows, while the number of transactions fell by more than half.

Average house prices in Dubai have tumbled 62 percent from their peak, Deutsche Bank said this month.

Complicating the matter is the threat of new supply, which could further the price slump. As many as 48,000 homes will be completed in the next two years, increasing current supply by 12 percent, Landmark Advisory estimates.

The UAE’s trade and tourism hub may also benefit from the political unrest sweeping the Arab world, as investors seek comparatively safe markets for their funds.

From: Arabian Business

dubai mall open after coronavirus lock down

Historic Day for Dubai as Al Maktoum International airport receives first flight

Al Maktoum International Airport Dubai

It was a historic day for Dubai when first test cargo flight landed at Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International airport, giving the green light for operations to begin next Sunday.

Emirates Flight EK9883, a Boeing 777 freighter operating Hong Kong-Dubai and piloted by Captain Ahmad Bin Huzaim and First Officer Nabil Yousuf Ahmad Mohammad Rai Al Boom, touched down on Sunday afternoon.

The airport is part of a $33 billion Dubai World Central (DWC) project that will take Dubai’s reputation for a transport hub to a whole different level.

The master plan includes six interrelated developments; the world’s largest airport, Al Maktoum International Airport, Dubai Logistics City, DWC Aviation City, DWC Residential City, DWC Commercial City and DWC Golf City.

The combined developments are designed to serve the city’s aviation, tourism, commercial and logistics requirements up to 2050 and beyond.

The first phase of the airport will feature one A380 capable runway, 64 remote stands, one cargo terminal with annual capacity for 250,000 tonnes of cargo and a passenger terminal building designed to accommodate five million passengers per year.

When completed, Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International will be the largest airport in the world with five runways, four terminal buildings and capacity for 160 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo.

The facility opens initially for cargo carriers, with passenger operations currently slated to start up at the end of March 2011 in concert with the IATA schedule change, operating company Dubai Airports announced on Monday.

DWC will combine air and land cargo while its location just a few kilometres from one of the region’s largest port at Jebel Ali connected by a dedicated highway, will give it the ability for one of the quickest transfer time for goods.

The trial also tested communication links between all the parties involved – Emirates SkyCargo, Dubai Airports, Dubai Air Navigation Services, Dubai Police, Customs, Immigration, Engineering Projects, Dubai Logistics City, Dubai World Central, JAFZA, Dnata, Swift Freight and the Roads and Transport Authority.