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28 March 2024

Kim Kardashian to join Aishwarya in Dubai?

Kim Kardashian Photo by Ashok Verma

Published
By Bindu Suresh Rai

Last year’s media frenzy surrounding reality TV star Kim Kardashian’s fashionable entry into the glamorous world of Dubai high life had the 32-year-old confessing that real estate shopping was definitely not ruled out in this concrete jungle.

Could that wish be fulfilled next month, as the diva makes way to Kuwait and possibly Dubai for the Thanksgiving holiday in November?

Experts certainly believe Kardashian’s next trip could also mean serious business for the star, who was quoted last year about bringing her fashion line here and consulting with her merry band of sisters to bag a home alongside in Dubai.

Whether beau Kanye West, who himself is no newbie to sunshine city, will chip in on the investment deal, Kardashian’s celeb status is certainly not the first or the last that has been enamoured by the gloss of glass and steel that Dubai is infamous for.

If you do the tally, you would have to whip out those designer sunglasses as the emirate turns on the bling with a record number of celebrities walking among us.

But if Kardashian is hunting for an ultra-luxe neighbourhood that’s attracting celebrities from far and wide, Emirates 24|7 does the real estate mapping for her.

Burj Khalifa

Celeb owners: Shilpa Shetty, Mohanlal

Bollywood’s Shilpa Shetty and her billionaire husband Raj Kundra grabbed headlines in 2010 for snapping up a property in Burj Khalifa.

The celebrity duo are among those rare few who’ve forked over millions to get their holiday home secured in the world’s tallest tower.

Reports state the Bollywood actress and Britian’s “Celebrity Big Brother” reality show winner was gifted an apartment on the 19th floor of Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building by her husband for their first wedding anniversary last week.

Meanwhile, last year South Indian superstar Mohanlal reportedly snapped up an apartment on the 29th floor of the world’s tallest tower as a birthday gift to himself.

The 940 square-foot apartment, which is estimated to have cost nearly Dh2.8 million, is the actor’s second home in Dubai, with a villa in the Arabian Ranches also in his kitty.

In fact, the actor secured a UAE driving license when he was shooting here for his film, “Casanova”.

The Palm Jumeirah

Celeb owners: Shah Rukh Khan, The Beckhams

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is one of the few celebrities who not only was one of the first few who managed to get a home on The Palm Jumeirah when it first opened, but also reportedly got it as a gift for being the neighbourhood’s unofficial brand ambassador.

King Khan’s plush new Signature Villa overlooking the Arabian Gulf is called Jannat (Heaven), as opposed to his stately home in Mumbai that is called Mannat (Wish).

The minimalist interiors were supposedly designed by wife Gauri and good friend and film director-producer, Karan Johar.

In 2008, the popular Bollywood actor took his association with the UAE a step further and announced his first real estate venture, a D8h billion-property development in Ras Al Khaimah named after him.

However, two years later the actor confirmed that the project was on hold.

Meanwhile, football great David and his Posh wife Victoria Beckham reportedly forked over £8 million for a Signature Villa on The Palm Jumeirah.

However, a few years after the investment story, “News Of The World” reported that the England player had handed over his Dubai home to his in-laws, Tony and Jackie Adams, and told them to treat the property as their own, although he and the former Spice Girl still technically own the house.

The newspaper quoted as source close to the Beckhams as saying: “David realised he was not going to be able to spend any time in Dubai. He’s got his commitments in Los Angeles and it’s a long trip, especially when he still has to spend a lot of time in London.”

Palazzo Versace, Dubai Culture Village

Celeb owners: Donatella Versace, Kate Hudson

The whopping Dh2.3bn hotel and residential project on the banks of Dubai Creek is an exclusive property that brings the ‘B’ back into bling.

Designed and furnished by all things Versace, each apartment will have the floors lined with hand-cut mosaics, and the communal areas will feature giant aquariums of fish specially imported from the Red Sea.

Naturally, if it’s designed by the Versace fashion house, then head diva Donatella will leave some exclusive digs for her personal use.

Meanwhile, Kate Hudson reportedly forked over £2.23m for a pad in the complex that sizes up to just 2,210 sq ft.

Jumeirah Golf Estates

Celeb owners: Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan, Greg Norman, Sergio Garcia and Pete Dye

Bollywood power couple, Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, stunned the city when they announced Dubai was to be their second home.

AbhiAsh (as they are fondly called by the media) acquired a villa at Sanctuary Falls, a resort-style villa community within Jumeirah Golf Estates for an estimated cost of $5-8 million.

Details on the couple’s new home are a guarded secret, but Sanctuary Falls is a collection of 96 resort style villas in a secure double-gated community and overlooks the Earth golf course designed by Greg Norman.

The community features five and six bedroom villas, ranging from 5,600 to 10,600 sq ft.

Meanwhile the property itself has been inspired by the natural elements of Fire, Earth, Water and Wind, the Jumeirah Golf Estates residential and recreational community has tied up with some of the most famous names in the game: Greg Norman, the ‘Shark’; former European Ryder Cup hero Sergio Garcia; and the father of modern golf course design, the legendary Pete Dye.

In 2008, it was revealed to us that close to $10 billion would be invested in the Jumeirah Golf Estates, which will be developed over four phases.