4.45 PM Thursday, 28 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:57 06:11 12:27 15:53 18:37 19:51
28 March 2024

Rich buyers queue to join Tiger Woods club

Published
By Joseph George

(SUPPLIED)   

  


The rich and the famous are queuing up to own a piece of land at the prestigious Tiger Woods Dubai residential golf course development at Dubailand.

Designed by the top golfer and developed by Tatweer, ownership of property at the exclusive golf community is restricted – even more so because the most expensive residential property has a Dh140 million price tag.

Project Director Abdulla Al Gurg told Emirates Business the waiting list of buyers wanting to be a part of the exclusive development has been growing ever since sales opened last year.

“This is the first golf course designed by Tiger Woods and we are very much catering to a private clientele. Entry to Tiger Woods Dubai is by invitation only and currently we have a waiting list of people who want to be a part of the project. We have already sold a few properties,” said Al Gurg.

Tiger Woods Dubai has appointed a governing committee to look into the application of every potential investor. “The responsibility of the committee is to find out if applicants fit our criteria and meet the standards we have set. Land is sold only to those who commit to our guidelines. No brokers are entertained,” said Al Gurg.

Being built on an area of 25.3 million square foot of land at Dubailand, Tiger Woods Dubai will include Al Ruwaya – a golf course designed by the golfing legend – a golf academy, a clubhouse, an 80-suite boutique hotel, 300 villas, including 22 ‘palaces’, 20 mansions and a community retail area. Al Gurg said: “Al Ruwaya, a 7,700-yard, par 72 championship-quality course, has been designed to include dramatic elevation changes, lush landscaping, stunning water features and an overall design programme that will challenge and entertain golfers of all abilities.”
 
The project, he added, was at an advanced stage. “Water is 18km away from the project site but we have already extended the pipeline. It will use 13,000 cubic metres of water to irrigate the golf course. The excavation work of the main lakes within the development is
already complete.”

Almost 8.1m cubic metres of sand has already been moved and the turf for the golf course has been ordered from Georgia in the United States. “It will arrive here in three weeks’ time. We have an operational nursery with 750 containers of trees shipped from Thailand. Construction work on the project is on schedule and I am more than confident that the target date for completion – late 2009 – will be met,” he said.

Two holes of the golf course are already complete and the remaining will be finished by the end of May. Construction work on the first commercial building is also scheduled to start soon followed by the residential community. “We are building a total of 44 villas and the construction of the first few will start soon. The construction of a Dewa substation and the sewerage treatment plant is also scheduled to start this year,” said Al Gurg.

Key to the construction of Tiger Woods Dubai is the care taken to conserve and protect the environment, including the use of recycled water to support the green landscaping and 280,000 square metres of lakes throughout the development.

“We are using sewerage-treated effluent water, which is currently in excess. In Dubai, almost 270,000 cubic metres of treated water is being rejected into the sea. We are using 30,000 cubic metres of it,” he said.

The treatment plant planned at Tiger Woods Dubai will enable the whole development based on reverse osmosis – a separation process that uses pressure to force a solution through a membrane that retains the solute on one side and allows the pure solvent to pass to the other side.

“Waste water is hence treated to such an extent that it can be used for drinking. All our initiatives are geared towards making Tiger Woods Dubai one of the world’s best,” said Al Gurg.

Everything at the development, he added, is aimed at providing the ultimate luxury experience. The 80-suite boutique hotel for VIP guests will have lavish rooms ranging from 2,500 sq ft to 6,500 sq ft. “We will have a presidential and royal suite. Every room will have a private butler service. Everything will be personalised,” he added.

Although Tiger Woods Dubai will be responsible for building most of the 300 luxury villas and mansions, it will be left to the investors to build the top-end ‘palaces’ based on their own personal style.

“They will, however, have to meet the basic criteria and model we are going to set up. The design for the palaces is still being worked out,” said Al Gurg.

While the starting price of a residential villa is fixed at Dh45m, owning a custom-built palace can be as expensive as Dh140m. “All services will be underground, including the maid’s rooms, car park, maintenance, gardening and kitchen. It will be customised based on buyers requirements,” said Al Gurg.

Each palace will have a maximum built up area of 81,000 sq ft, while the mansions are a maximum of 45,000 sq ft and the residential villas are 12,000 sq ft. The total lot sizes, however, are quite massive with palaces alone located on 100,000 sq ft of land.

Akhilesh Bahl, sales director of Think Space Real Estate, yesterday said the number of investors opting for high-end luxury property has been rising.

“I have heard of the project and about the palaces and about the invitation-only clientele. I would not be surprised if there was a waiting list,” said Bahl.

He said properties in Tiger Woods Dubai could be the most expensive in the UAE.

“There is so much demand for properties in Emirates Hills, where the minimum price is Dh20m and goes up to Dh50m. Then there is Jumeirah Golf Estates, The Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Lifestyle City as well. These are exclusive high-value developments and there are enough people who are willing to pay the price for good living,” said Akhilesh.

 

 

The numbers

 

25.3m: Square feet of land at Dubailand that will include a gold course, a clubhouse, a golf academy, an 80-suite hotel, 300 villas, including 22 ‘palaces’, 20 mansions and a retail area

 

81,000: Square feet of built up area that will be used for each ‘palace’, 45,000 sq ft for mansions and 12,000 sq ft for villas. ‘Palaces’ will be located on 100,000 sq ft plots