Dubai’s islands in the sun

Shaping

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Millionaire meets the people who have ambitious and expensive plans for the islands

they have bought. Whether it is about recreating history or making a fashion statement,

this is the place that will launch a thousand dreams

text Shalini Seth

Where in the world would a man buy an island and swim all around it for sheer joy? Where in the world would you have a buyer give a blank cheque for an island, asking

the sales executive to fill in the right amount – and the have the seller return it? Where in the world would two young men buy an island and proceed merrily to build a sand castle on it?

While it is not possible to reveal everything due to the privacy promised to buyers by Dubai-based developer nakheel, Millionaire spoke to a few key players and buyers who are shaping the private islands that make up The World. We tour it, get the sand out of our shoes and take a sea-shell home as memento. Pity it’s not before 2006 or we could have even seen the show villa on “Greenland” where even the helipad is marble-tiled.

an apocryphal story goes that a Chinese gas tycoon offered a blank cheque for it (the one that was not accepted). The villa is now marked ‘private property’. >

TheWorld

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“I thInk few people realIse

the level of luxury. It Is your

possessIon. you can even

change the name of the

country once you buy It”

The World is now moving into its next phase, which will see the islands handed over to developers for the creation of infrastructure and the construction of resorts. The World team was on hand as the last rock was placed at 8am on January 10, 2008, by Director Hamza mustafa.

“i think few people realise the level of luxury. it is your possession. You can even change the name of the country once you buy it. You can reshape it in the form of a seahorse or a leaf,” says adnan Dawood, brand manager, The World, who thinks the islands are practically an art form. That they could be, given that aerial shots of it were displayed at the miami art Fair.

Dawood is not off the mark. Developers on The World can create their own environment within the project through a process known as terraforming – literally meaning earth-shaping. islands are sold as undeveloped land on a freehold basis in the form of continuous plots with both land and water areas; the developer can then reshape the islands to create unique features such as private beaches, coves, harbours and marinas by moving the sand within designated setbacks and regulations. investors also decide what water and power-generation infrastructure they will need.

The development – 4km off the coast of Dubai – adds 232km of beachfront to the emirate’s natural 67km coastline. There is a story about that too… but The Palm islands come first in that one. legend has it that in 1997 His Highness Sheikh mohammed bin

Nakheel sales centre in Dubai

Hussein Al Yasiri sells The World

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rashid al maktoum, Vice-President and Prime minister of the UaE and ruler of Dubai, asked Dubai World Chairman Sultan bin Sulayem to find a way to increase Dubai’s coastline. The result came from an architect who sketched plans for a circular island with seven kilometres of beachfront. Sheikh mohammed was unimpressed. “Seven?” he is said to have asked. “Why not 70? it doesn’t have to be round.” and he then proceeded to draw something that was shaped like The Palm.

The Palm islands sold out quickly – within a week. after two more Palms came The World, double the size and designed as the absolute pinnacle of luxury. if the Palm islands were designed for high net worth individuals, The World was targeted at “the royalty, the richard Bransons of the world”. after all, what is more luxurious than a private island (or 300) 20 minutes from a big city?

The only restrictions on developers’ imaginations are the zoning regulations introduced to ensure overall conformity with the master plan. So while some islands are reserved for single homes, others can be completely built over should the owners so wish. alaska, for example, has been designated a resort zone because it is suitable for hotel development with unrestricted views of the sea.

regardless of its closeness to Dubai, as you enter the waters of The World, the waves become smoother and the temperature drops a notch or two. Dawood rattles off facts such as there being enough sand here to construct 32 giant pyramids. and that you can see the islands from the moon. “The view is like seeing Dubai on a postcard. and that is our biggest selling point,” he says, pointing at the skyline that is only a few decades old and still growing.

if reality is suspended some kilometres from Dubai then this is the world or an inexact replica of it, with roughly 300 islands divided into countries and cities. So inexact that Switzerland did not exist until roger Federer pointed it out in an interview

* Data available from USGS/EROS, Sioux, SDNakheel changed the map of Dubai

>

The profile of a buyer • 30 to 50 years old.

• Ultra-high net worth.

• Globetrotter, with homes in at least two countries.

• Has a staff of 50 to 100 people.

• Speaks more than one language.

• Wealth is relatively new – not overnight but earned over the

past decade.

• innovative and influential and driven by a hope to leave a

legacy.

• Makes a statement.

Private estate owners on the World are older. they are between

40-60 years of age and reclusive. they prefer to remain in the

background.

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to Vogue magazine. The tennis ace, who has a home in Dubai marina, was asked if he considered buying an island. Federer said he was unable to bid for his homeland. “it doesn’t exist,” he said.

“Switzerland is too small.” and, hey presto, now it does. There are many stories concerning The World. a lot of them

are about celebrities who supposedly own islands. Brad Pitt and angelina Jolie were rumoured to have bought Ethiopia. rod Stewart was said to have shelled out £18 million for Britain. Shahrukh Khan was said to own an island too after he was taken on a tour by nakheel. a news channel actually bumped into Prince albert of monaco outside the sales centre. michael Jackson, richard Branson and Bill Clinton are said to be amongst the high-profile visitors. mötley Crue singer Tommy lee was rumoured to have purchased Greece for ex-wife Pamela anderson. most of these are only rumours, though some real buyers do believe that they have these superstar neighbours.

But the man who can verify them, or not, is Hussein al Yasiri, Sales Consultant, The World, who has sold most of it, including all the islands that make up africa, sold to one buyer in the largest sale for The World – approximately $1 billion.

“The World is not for your ordinary rolls-royce driving, eight-digit bank account holders. one of the people on The World, from China, is actually going to recreate China’s most famous buildings on The World. He is also recreating a Dubai street in China,” says al Yasiri, profiling the buyer for us and the visions that drive them.

Dawood confirms that amongst the buyers are 19 people who want to call it home, not make it a resort or a public space. These are private buyers and amongst them there are arab, European and asian royalty, film stars and tycoons. These islands are located further off from the coast of Dubai.

The islands of The World vary in size between 100,000 square feet and 450,000 square feet, averaging at roughly 300,000 square feet of rock and sand. Prices range from $10.8 million to $36 million per undeveloped island. The average price for an island ranges from $15 million to $50 million, but the total cost of developing an island is much higher as owners are expected to provide all necessary infrastructure. The most expensive island costs $263 million.

al Yasiri, we are told, has almost unlimited access. He can even drive into Dubai airport and pick up a prospective buyer. and who knows, he might have. after all, the people he has hosted include richard Branson, Diane Furstenberg and Cantona. “They are all friends,” he says, rattling off a story about having met roger Federer in the men’s room when both of them discovered that there were no tissues. By the time mutual friend

The World with Burj Dubai in the foreground

Roger Federer on his way to The World

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annie leibovitz (“she took John lennon’s last photograph hours before he died”) formally introduced them, al Yasiri could thump him on the shoulder and say, “oh, it’s you!”

al Yasiri is the one with stories about what people do when they first visit their island. He does not tell most of them. The ones he does are interesting and true. “one guy got into the water and swam all around his little island. it was a small country, so he could do that,” he says. “The buyer of Shanghai got real soil from his country to the island and sprinkled it all over. You should have seen him standing and throwing sand from his country on to this island… another owner, when he first came to his island after the deal was done by his people, had tears in his eyes. and, of course, there was Branson who said ‘i stake my claim on England’,” he tells us.

Isla Moda: saMIra abdulrazzakWhen you have a company named infinity you can take on The World. “at Dubai infinity Holdings our job is foresee trends coming up in the next 5-10 years and implement them now. We foresee that luxury and fashion would be in the forefront in the next five to 10 years. Being in real estate we have combined the two,” says Samira abdulrazzak, Chief Executive of Dubai infinity Holdings.

The name isla moda means an island of fashion, in Spanish. “We tested the name in the market, everyone liked it. We also checked with fashion houses in new York, publications, event

organisers, marketing agencies. Everyone thought it was trendy. This was our first and last choice,” says abdulrazzak.

isla moda is to be developed into the world’s first fashion island. it can be compared to the haute couture of real estate. The island’s first set of villas will go on sale in the fourth quarter of this year. abdulrazzak mentions that it is in the concept stage right now and work will start in the second quarter of 2009.

“We think fashion is global. it is becoming art. We are trying to get a total of seven top designers from different continents. Whether it is villas or interiors, they will have inputs on the development, while we work closely with the master developer,” she says.

isla moda has finalised four out of seven designers already. While we are told that there are two from italy, one from the US and one from Paris, abdulrazzak is not willing to name names. “Each time we finalise a designer, they put a flag on the island and we take a photo. Designers are very excited with the concept. This complements their vision and fits into their expansion plans,” she says.

“isla moda will provide a seamless series of intimate experiences fashioned by the world’s most famous designers, architects, and fashion celebrities. residents and members will enjoy a tailored experience of living fashion, creating fashion, and consuming fashion,” a statement says.

abdulrazzak says they have ensured everything is 100 per cent. “We took fashion houses to the islands and took their feedback on the concept about the location. it is a very sophisticated industry. You have to think like them, talk their language,” she says. >

“you have to be a member to

enter the Island. you have

to be fashIonable to be a

member. people ask us who

are your targets, whIch

segment? and we always

tell them every fashIonable

person Is our clIent”

Samira AbdulRazzak, CEO, Dubai Infinity Holdings

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Confirmed buyers

• Kuwait-based investment Dar, which has purchased 20 islands that

make up australia and New Zealand to build a $3.5bn resort named

Oqyana.

• irish business consortium Larionovo has also been announced as the

buyer of ireland, which is to be developed into an irish-themed resort

called ireland in the Sun.

• Chinese businessman bin Hu, President of Zhongzhou international

Holding Group, has been revealed as the owner of Shanghai, for which

he paid $28 million.

• Dubai infinity Holdings announced plans for a mixed-use island

development, isla Moda, which will aim to establish Dubai as a global

“fashion hub”.

• beijing, taiwan and Hong Kong have reportedly also been bought by

unnamed Chinese companies.

• Greece was sold for $15.5m to European hotelier baron Jean van

Gysel de Meise who said he plans a $170 million development

on it.

• all of the islands that make up Canada and the US have already been

bought. Europe has almost been sold out. Moscow and Kazakhstan

have also been sold. india has been sold to one of the richest indians on

the planet. tokyo fetched $45 million.

• Singapore-based Cinnovation Group purchased Nova island to build a

$200 million resort and spa on the development. Nova island represents

the northern Russian archipelago Novaya Zemlya, situated next to

Russia and Serbia.

• Dubai Multi Commodities Centre announced its Pearls of arabia project

on antarctica.

• North asia is being developed by World Development Company as a VC

bank Resort.

• brunei is owned by Salya Corporation, which is building

FtV Resort.

• aCi, a German developer based in Dubai, is developing a leisure resort

on Ecuador.

• Orenburg and Rostov are being developed by Perseus Property

Management.

• Zanzibar is owned by One&Only for a resort.

• turkey is owned by MNG Holding.

• thailand is owned by Profile Real Estate. Villas are for sale in Jasmine

Gardens.

• Nakheel is developing its first island on the World, Coral island, a super-

luxury resort on the north coast of Canada. Coral island covers 7.86m

square feet and is located across 20 connected islands in the North

american region of the World.

in keeping with her belief is this: “So the work for Spring Summer collection of Villas will start in may 2009. We have three types of units, prêt a porter, haute couture and limited edition. Each designer will have to design all three. They are commissioned to design.”

The epicentre of the island will be the piazza playing host to classic ateliers and masters of fashion, whilst gallery spaces will combine art and culture. The island will have a 100-room boutique hotel. limited edition lines will also be offered to guests on an appointment basis exclusively catered and designed for isla moda. There will be 170 fashion residences.

Speaking about working with the best designers in the world whose names will be announced later this year, abdulrazzak says: “The biggest challenge was how to bring them under one

roof. We managed that. They like to expend their creativity as they want. You cannot tell them, ‘You have this box. You have to do this’. We left the floor open to them. We need a 100 per cent from them. You need them in the driver’s seat. You have to be the passenger.”

Designers will be invited to place their wares in boutiques. Those products will not be available in the rest of Dubai. “What is the point if a 20-minute boat ride can get you the same things anywhere else?” abdulrazzak says.

and who is the customer? That criterion is taken care of. abdulrazzak says: “You have to be a member to enter the island. You have to be fashionable to be a member. People ask us who are your targets, which segment? and we always tell them every fashionable person is our client.”

Bin Hu buys Shanghai. On The world with Hamza Mustafa, members of his team and Al Yasiri

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aquItaInIa: Mark stott, rahaIl aslaMmark Stott, managing Director, Select Property, together with rahail aslam, Chief Executive, Select Group, owns Spain and France. Their plan is to unite the two under a project named aquitainia. “it is an ancient name for the two countries,” Stott says. and if there is irony in the fact that two Englishmen are buying Spain and France, the duo is not unaware of it. They celebrated its purchase with two castles on the sand and had themselves photographed having high tea on beach chairs, with their suit trousers rolled up. a butler served it. Stott says that the requirement for owning an island, or two, is to have a sense of humour, a passion for Dubai and a vision.

aquitainia, which allows you to lunch in Spain and dine in France, is going to link the two with a pedestrian bridge. apartments, townhouses and water-villas, a French restaurant, spa and boutique hotel are some of the highlights of the development. The 75-room hotel is to be operated by a global brand. and a 200-berth marina will accommodate residents and guests’ boats. according to a statement: “a well known, michelin star chef in the UK is in line to front the restaurant to be named aquitaine.”

Stott says: “There is scepticism about whatever Dubai has achieved. at the start, people find it unbelievable. But then Dubai makes it possible. and i believe this is the highest and boldest of its achievements.”

never mind that the sand castles aren’t actually made of sand. They are symbols. and not only do they work, they also last. “Someone else made them and they are made of polystyrene so they last longer,” Stott says.

it is still not the strangest experience of his life. “When i visited the islands for the first time, it was the most surreal experience of my life. i was in South africa – then, five minutes later, i was in Cuba. and for the first time in my life i felt that i could swim the atlantic. i am trying to get my partner to do it,” he says.

Was he invited to buy? “Yes,” says Stott, adding that the master developer carefully checks credentials before it allows a purchase and Select has already cut its teeth on four off-plan developments in Dubai marina. “Even if you say it is only a marketing gimmick, they are going to end up with the best.”

one of the things they say about owning a private island from amongst 300 is that you’d better learn to live with your neighbour. With “Greenland” next to him, Stott has no worries on that score. “There are various rumours about who owns

Aslam and Stott having high tea on their islands

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the show villa. i would be very happy to have the ruler as my neighbour,” he says.

Pangkor lautif you are given carte blanche to not only build but even shape the very piece of land that you have to build on, why not use it? “We just got five pieces and we worked to shape them into one project. We found that if we created two sea horses looking at each other, it would suit the shape very well,” says architect Kamal agostine, the managing partner of agostine and raphael Group.

agostine is working closely with City-D Development, a company known for its luxury projects in CiS countries, for Pangkor laut, which takes its name from a resort on a privately

PLANSLow density islands are located at the perimeter of the master plan to ensure

maximum privacy with open vistas to the large water bodies allowing for

convenient access for mega yachts and other large vessels.

Resort islands are dedicated to hotel and resort developments and may

also include residential and limited commercial uses; land parcels are

conveniently located near marinas, providing the ideal location for intimate

boutique hotels, spa sanctuaries or world-class resorts.

Mid high density islands are low-rise, mixed-use communities complete

with commercial offerings to meet the needs of residents, whether it is a

full-time or vacation home.

Commercial islands are strategically located adjacent to major transportation

centres or navigation channels and will offer an array of retail venues,

including fine dining, canal seaside cafés, and leisure options for residents

and guests.

Transportationthe World master plan incorporates a network of canals that allow access

to every island and defines the overall traffic order. the canals represent the

‘streets’ or ‘waterways’ and have a draught of four to five metres allowing

ships up to 200 feet to navigate the interior areas of the World. the

network of canals provides a comprehensive system of access ways to the

islands that will service customers, visitors and services, while not intruding

on island privacy. So be prepared for service canals rather than service lifts.

Water taxis and ferries will handle a large portion of the transportation;

however, it is also anticipated that a majority of property owners on the

World will own or operate a boat. there are four distinct strategies to meet

marina demand on the World: island Marinas will service estate or customers

of resort islands; Commercial Marinas are situated along the open water or

major waterways and have the capability to integrate larger marinas; Public

transportation Hub Marinas comprise the space to accommodate public

marinas with a percentage of berths designated for island owners; Mainland

Hub Marinas will accommodate various requirements of the World such as

vehicle parking with a designated number of slips available to customers

who require a permanent mainland dock.

HubsHubs provide the major transportation and logistics centres; commercial

focus for convenience shopping and amenities; accommodation of the

major commercial marinas; and locations of the islands’ critical public

services such as security, emergency services and health care facilities. they

are located 15 minutes from any island.

UtilitiesUtility services will be provided to each island from central and regional

plants. a centralised system will provide basic services to residents of the

World by way of utility plants located at service hubs. However, each island

may be responsible for their individual connection to the distribution and

collection mains.

this system comprises two central plan sites for water and power located on

opposite ends of the World. Combined sewage system and reuse systems

will also be located strategically where reuse demand will be high.

stott says that the

requIrement for

ownIng an Island,

or two, Is to have

a sense of humour,

a passIon for dubaI

and a vIsIon

The World at night. A rendering

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owned island located three miles off the coast of malaysia. “We have been operating on an island for more than 25 years,” says Carl Kono, Executive Vice President, operations at YTl Hotels and Properties, which manages Pangkor laut. “The difference is that in one you live with the geography that you have, in the other you can even put in all the infrastructure as you build,” he says, speaking of the luxury development that will see five islands come together as Pangkor laut luxury resort, residence & Spa Village, a five-star multi-module resort property.

The Pangkor laut luxury resort will offer 120 deluxe guest rooms, 20 fully equipped luxury beachfront villas, shopping

gallery, restaurants, aqua park and an underwater nightclub – a first for Dubai.

The residential component, Pangkor laut luxury residence & Spa Village, will consist of 92 apartments, 20 attached beach villas with private pools and 28 independent luxury villas with private marinas. a community club, a spa village, a gourmet food boutique are some of the highlights of the resort.

“There were several guiding principles in the design. one of them was that water naturally shapes things, second was that we wanted to maximise the edges. We wanted the residents and guests to be able to see water at all times. We also wanted to create another world so we build a lagoon inside. The beating heart of the property is an octopus-shaped building,” agostine says.

The result is a resort that seems to float. There are suspended gardens and you can actually jog from one part of the resort to the other, if you so wish. Says agostine: “The eye should not get bored, so we ensure that you have different scenic views at each turn. and once you are in the underwater nightclub you may as well be living in an aquarium.”

The Octopus as the hub

The sea horse shaped islands

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