Just a handful of homes on The Heart of Europe project off the coast of Dubai remain unsold, according to sales figures shared with Arabian Business by developer Kleindienst Group.
The Heart of Europe is a six million square feet development on the man-made World Islands off the coast of Dubai that will become what the developer says will be “a taste of the best of Europe in Dubai”.
‘Countries’ in the form of islands include Sweden, Germany, Russia, and Italy, with a central commercial development called Europe with hotels, retail and entertainment spaces, and beaches.
Construction on the much hyped project was due to begin in November 2008 before it was delayed after the financial crisis of 2008 hit Dubai in October that same year.
Development finally began in 2014 and the project’s value has grown from an initial AED 1.5 billion ($408.36 million) equity undertaking by Kleindienst Group to AED 5 billion ($1.36 billion) after sales, according to the developer.
“All of the homes will be handed over by the end of the year, and we will have all of the project completed and ready before the Expo 2020,” Kleindienst Group chairman, Josef Kleindienst told Arabian Business.
Besides handing over residences to owners by the end of the year, The Heart of Europe is slated to have the first of its planned hotel ‘soft openings’, at the Portofino Hotel in Italy, in December this year.
Sales and handovers so far
The Heart of Europe offers residences in the form of 10 ‘Beach Palaces’ on Sweden, 32 villas on Germany, as well 131 Floating Seahorse vessels that will be berthed for vacation stays at the St Petersburg islands in Russia and in Italy.
Of the beach palaces on Sweden, all of have been sold out at prices ranging from AED 30 million to AED 75 million ($8.2 million to $20.55 million). Beach Villa number six, however, has been put up for sale by its owner, according to Kleindienst.
The island is open exclusively to owners of the beachfront properties, “who chose the islands because of the privacy they offer,” said Kleindienst.
“The residences were bought by two families from Europe with the rest sold to royals from the GCC countries whom everyone would recognise, but we cannot reveal their names because they were guaranteed privacy,” he said.
The homes will be handed over by the end of the year, “because many of the residents want to celebrate New Years’ Eve on the island,” he added.
Villas on the island of Germany came in two types, 15 beachfront villas and 17 lagoon front town houses. Prices for the former averaged AED 26.2 milion while those in the latter were sold starting at AED 11.5 million.
According to Kleindienst Group’s figures, the villas nearly 90 percent of the villas have been sold so far, and will begin being handed over to owners by the end of the year.
Fewer than 14 Floating Seahorse homes are available for sale to private investors – while initially sold as villas, Kleindienst had to revise the contracts for future sales to refer to them as villas.
“Villas, by legal definition, are attached to the ground and cannot be moved without breaking them. We have been asked not to sell them as villas,” Kleindienst said in an interview last month. More
By Shayan Shakeel arabianbusiness.com
