Dubai Properties LLC Announces Key Infrastructure Milestones At Business Bay

Dubai Properties LLC, a subsidiary of Dubai Properties Group, today announced key infrastructure work including sewage, water network, district cooling, and power connectivity is steadily progressing at the AED110 billion Business Bay master development.

The master developer is also gearing up for the forthcoming delivery of the Executive Towers.
Business Bay is Dubai Properties’ 80 million sq. feet master development, located along the extension of the Dubai Creek. A ‘city within a city’, it is being developed along the lines of Manhattan of New York or the Ginza of Tokyo, for providing the best possible commercial environment to world-class companies, investors and businesses.

As one of the key milestones at the development, Business Bay was energized by a 132/11 kV power substation in February 2009 to feed the first and second phase, on the west side of the project. A second substation that will power the east side is set for completion in September 2009 while a third substation is set for construction in close proximity to the north end of the development.

Mohamed Binbrek, Group CEO of Dubai Properties Group, said: “Business Bay is our most acclaimed and ambitious project up to date. The unprecedented logistics and scale of construction that encompasses the development is closely supervised by Dubai Properties and relevant business partners and stakeholders, and we are determined to deliver all foundational function in a timely manner. In line with the progression of key infrastructural networks, Dubai Properties is continuously implementing improvements to the development, ensuring that all areas receive adequate attention and enhancement wherever needed.

“As part of our commitment to shaping quality master developments, Dubai Properties complements the Dubai skyline with the delivery of several major projects. In line with our promise to our stakeholders, our status is backed by projects such as Executive Towers and the Creek extension at Business Bay, amongst other spectacular developments around Dubai. Client needs stand as our topmost priority and we will continue to bring on stream projects that serve as a benchmark for generations to come.”

In line with the handover of many spectacular towers at the development, a comprehensive road network has been laid out throughout the first and second phase of project to serve the residential and commercial premises. Additionally, two parallel roads that are being constructed to the east and west of the development by the Road and Transport Authority (RTA) are anticipated to further benefit the Business Bay community.

Complementing this accessibility, a major portion of a thorough water network has also been completed last year and is scheduled to open soon. In parallel, an internal sewage network at Business Bay has been completed and will soon be connected to the Dubai Municipality sewage network.

Dubai Properties’ first project in Business Bay, the AED3 billion Executive Towers, markedly visible from the arterial Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road, is a vibrant residential and commercial environment.
While 10 of the residential buildings at Executive Towers feature studio-to four-bedroom apartments, others include one office tower (with 187 office suites), 60 villas located at the plaza level, eight boutique office villas and a three-level podium that offers parking bays for 4,500 vehicles.

The Executive Towers is serviced by an off-site district cooling systems, which are an effective and efficient means of air conditioning. Allowing central plants to cool water and distribute it through a network of piping systems to individual buildings, this system results in a 35 per cent reduction in energy consumption.

Offering district cooling connectivity to Executive Towers along with numerous other developments, the primary EMPOWER district cooling plant (DCP) located across Business Bay SC was activated in May 2009, offering chilled water to the development. At the same time, additional district cooling plant is planned for completion along the Al Khail Road side.

The AED1.2-billion Vision Tower at the Business Bay will release more than 500,000 sq. ft of commercial office space when all the 67 floors are completed. As the gateway to Business Bay, the bent glass facade of the tower with its high-tech transparent glazing is set to become a signature element of the entire development. Internally lit to create a luminous beacon at the night-time, Vision Tower will be seamlessly connected to the Executive Towers via a pedestrian bridge, linking the offices to Bay Avenue and the residential and hotel towers.

Business Bay offers waterfront high-rise towers, both commercial and residential, along the extension of the creek. It aims to provide world-class environment and infrastructure for global businesses, as well as a self-sustaining magnificent lifestyle for residents.

Tatweer Invests AED3.68 Billion in New Wellness Resort at DHCC

Tatweer, a member of Dubai Holding, today announced it will establish an AED3.68 billion Dubai Wellness Resort in Phase-II of Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), a member of Tatweer.

Tatweer’s new initiative adds its investments in DHCC to a total of AED12.5 billion, underpinning its profound support of delivering quality healthcare services, while driving the growth of life-improving industries across the region. DHCC has so far attracted AED15 billion of additional investments from its partners, bringing the overall investments in DHCC to AED27.5 billion.

Situated alongside the Dubai Creek, within DHCC’s Wellness Cluster, the resort will serve as a premier location for preventative and integrative medicine, and for promoting health-enhancing lifestyles in the region.
The Dubai Wellness Resort will include a rejuvenation centre for cosmetic services; healing and health-centre for integrated medical services; active-lifestyle centre as sports medicine facility, and healthy-living residences for eco-friendly living. It will also encompass a healthy-lifestyle retail district in the town centre and 7-star luxury hotels.
Saeed Al-Muntafiq, Executive Chairman of Tatweer, said: “The new wellness facility underpins our relentless endeavour to promote Dubai as the hub for healthcare excellence. Its integrative medicine approach will solidify DHCC’s position as the leading destination for comprehensive health services through its fusion of allopathic, complementary, and alternative medicine using an evidence-based approach.”

The resort will bring together under one roof advanced curative approaches in integrative medicine from the West, East and the Arab world. Set amidst a sustainable, carbon-neutral environment, it will distinguish itself through the application of innovative techniques in preventative medicine, provision of timely and holistic patient management programs, and ongoing follow-up treatment.

Al-Muntafiq added: “Regarded as the world’s most integrated healthcare free zone, patients seeking DHCC’s world-class treatment and medical procedures will now have the privileged option of selecting from a range of curative therapies. The Dubai Wellness Resort will offer a continuum of care, facilitating patients’ referral to and from key components within DHCC, such as the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Academic Medical Center and other medical establishments.”

As an integral element of DHCC, which priorities the provision of quality healthcare, the Dubai Wellness Resort will provide an additional incentive for boosting wellness tourism in the region.

Through the integration of Phase-I that will be the center for cutting edge diagnosis and conventional treatment modalities, and Phase-II that focuses on wellness therapies, DHCC aims to offer holistic healthcare through disease prevention and management, health psychology, and other life-enhancing services.
 

Dubai History

Looking Back at Dubai

Most of Dubai’s history is known only to the desert and the sea. There’s little information about pre-Islamic activity in this corner of the Arabian Peninsula. After the spread of Islam in the 7th century, the Umayyad Caliph invaded southeast Arabia and drove out the Sassanians, one of the great powers of the time. Several artifacts from the Umayyad period have been discovered in modern-day Jumeirah as a result of excavations carried out by the Dubai Museum.

Few written records were kept before the 19th century, and much of the knowledge of Dubai’s past was passed on orally between generations. Documented records of a Dubai village exist only after 1799. Those who first settled here did so around the creek. Traditional economic activity focused on fishing, pearling, herding sheep and goats, and cultivating dates and other small-scale agriculture. For centuries, this region was embroiled in dynastic disputes. It became known as the Pirate Coast because raiders from the modern-day emirates often attacked foreign ships and each other.

Around 1830, a branch of the Bani Yas tribe ancestors of the Bedouins who inhabited the harsh deserts around Abu Dhabi left Abu Dhabi and settled a small fishing village at the mouth of the Dubai Creek. Dubai, under the Al Maktoum dynasty of the Bani Yas tribe that rules the emirate today, became one of seven sheikhdoms under British protection. It used British maritime protection to thwart attacks by the Ottoman Empire and competing sheikhdoms and to advance trade relations with neighboring states.

The advent of the pearling industry drove Dubai’s growth, and by the 1870s, the emirate had become the main trading port along the Gulf coast. Dubai has always taken a laissez-faire attitude toward trade, and this liberal money-making posture attracted merchants from Iran, India, and elsewhere in the Arabian Peninsula. By the early 1900s, Dubai boasted the region’s biggest trade markets. The dhow was the sailing craft that made trade possible, and the souk was the destination. You will see dhows continuing to operate along the creek today, as well as souks in Deira that still bustle with activity. By the 1950s,

Dubai had become a small but successful regional trading and fishing post, although its population was still not much more than 5,000 people. The pearling industry had died out in the 1930s, a result of World War I, the Great Depression, and the cultivation of cultured pearls elsewhere. The discovery of oil in 1967 and its production soon after generated a period of rapid development that forever altered Dubai. An influx of foreign workers, primarily from South Asia, led to exponential population growth.

In 1968, the U.K. announced, as a result of cutbacks in its foreign operations, that it would end its treaty relationships with the seven emirates, then called the “Trucial States” because of the truces that had been negotiated, as well as with Bahrain and Qatar. The nine entities tried unsuccessfully to establish an independent country, and Bahrain and Qatar went their own way. In 1971, Dubai joined Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quiwain, Fujeirah, and a year later Ras Al Khaimah to create the United Arab Emirates. This decision was especially important in ending a long history of border disputes between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which had even led to war between the two in 1947. Dubai’s rulers sought to put Dubai on the map through a remarkable plan for development. The late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed al Maktoum is credited with much of Dubai’s rapid growth, focusing Dubai’s energies on trade, diversifying the economy away from the shrinking oil supply, and building commercial infrastructure to attract investment. Rather than spending the oil money on palaces and weapons, as happened in some oil-rich states, he wisely channeled much of the revenue into new investments.

Oil and trade remained the big industries, but in 1979 Dubai opened the Jebel Ali free zone to attract companies from around the world to do business here. This expansionary vision has been continued by his son, Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai. Sheikh Mohammad has pushed effectively to transform Dubai into the main trade, financial, and entertainment center of the region. He has encouraged competition among developers who come up with the most innovative projects.

The Dubai government established new economic clusters based on its success with the Jebel Ali free zone, such as Media City, Internet City, Healthcare City, and the Dubai International Financial Center. In the past 5 years, it has focused increasingly on growth in the tourism and real estate sectors, as well. Now that Dubai’s oil industry is all but exhausted, the emirate’s economy is successfully diversified and booming. Dubai’s political system has been less dynamic, operating under the framework of a constitutional monarchy. The political relationship between the seven emirates developed as a loose federation rather than a centralized system. Each emirate has its own hereditary ruler and enjoys substantial autonomy.

Dubai is the second-most powerful emirate after Abu Dhabi, and the other five emirates are substantially less wealthy and influential. Under the government structure, the president of the UAE is the ruler of Abu Dhabi and the vice president is the ruler of Dubai. There’s no universal suffrage or political parties in the UAE, where leaders are chosen by their dynastic positions. Democracy is slowly making an appearance into the political system, however. At the end of 2006, the UAE held its first-ever limited elections to select half the members of the Federal National Council (FNC), a 40-member consultative body with 20 members appointed by emirate rulers and 20 elected. One woman won election to the FNC and seven more women were appointed as council members.