Funds in place for 20 projects in Dubai worth Dh4.5bn: Azizi

Azizi Developments, the real estate arm of Azizi Holdings, has funds in place to complete all their 20 property and hospitality projects in Dubai, worth Dh4.5 billion, a senior company executive told Emirates 24|7.

“We have done our calculation in terms of investing our own money to ensure continuity and completion of all our projects. Selling off-plan has also has helped us a lot. We don’t see any problem continuing these projects,” Chief Executive Officer Ali Omer said in an exclusive interview with this website.

“We are ensuring any project that we launch has the financial backing for it. We assure our investors that we will build all our projects that we launch and will not stop,” he asserted.

In Al Furjan, a master development close to the Expo 2020 venue, the developer is building 17 projects (eight residential and nine hotel/serviced apartments). Work has commenced on eight residential towers, while four hotel/serviced apartment projects will be launched soon.

Chief Executive Officer Ali Omer

Though it has been reported that transactional activity has declined in the Dubai property market, Omer said sales have been moving “very well” for them.

“Some of our buildings are up to 75 per cent sold. The ones that were launched recently such as Daisy, Tulip and Freesia are already 25 per cent sold.”

In order to ensure investors are updated with the project’s progress, the developer is sending construction reports every month. Moreover, it allows investors to visit the site and get updates directly from the project managers.

Big bet on hospitality

On the hospitality front, Azizi is aiming to have over 1,000 rooms under management by 2020.

The company is planning on launching a Dh1.1-bn five-star hotel in Dubai Healthcare City phase 2, which will have 400 keys and eight restaurants.

 “We will start work early next year and complete it by end-2018,” Omer informed.

Work has commenced on its Dh734-million five-star boutique hotel on Palm Jumeirah Crescent. Located between Anantara Dubai Palm Resort & Spa and Rixos The Palm Dubai, the project is slated for completion by end-2016.

Dubai is expecting to welcome 25 million visitors by 2020 as it will host the World Expo 2020 for a period of six months, starting October 20, 2020 until April 10, 2021.

Property prices stable

Although in June 2015, Standard & Poor’s, a global ratings agency, said property prices in Dubai’s residential housing market were expected to fall by 10 to 20 per cent this year, Omer shrugs off such reports, saying, “The market is stable and it is the best time for investors to buy.”

“We believe the market is stable and this is a good sign. This is the best time to invest as you don’t want to invest when prices are very high or you don’t want to invest when prices are very low as you never know how things will turn up.”

Even though Al Furjan will get a Metro station, with the extension of the Red Line to Expo 2020 site, the developer has not increased sales prices. 

“We have the Metro station coming up in front of our plot, but we haven’t hiked the prices after the new Metro project was announced. We still are selling on an average at Dh900 per square feet, but all depends on the progress of the building,” he added.

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