Burj Dubai

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Hundreds queue all night for Burj Dubai units

More than 300 people spent Friday night queuing up outside Emaar Properties' Burj Dubai sales centre, desperate to grab several new units in the developer's flagship project.

In unprecedented scenes, some buyers are thought to have paid nearly 8 million dirhams ($2.18 million) for one bedroom apartments in the Burj itself, and over 2 million dirhams for one bedroom apartments in Downtown Burj Dubai.

Emaar announced on Thursday it would be hosting a sales event for an "exclusive collection" of high-end homes drawn from various residential projects in Downtown Burj Dubai.

Residential projects included The Old Town, The Residences, South Ridge, Burj Dubai Lake Hotel & Serviced Apartments and The Dubai Mall Hotel & Serviced Apartments, some of which are ready to move into immediately.

The units officially went on sale at 9am on Saturday morning. However, by 3am queues had already built up, with many eager buyers bringing blankets, food and drink with them. Many were armed with cheque books and passports, keen to snap up anything they could.

"It got busy very early. The rumours have been going around of units going for 3,000 dirhams per square foot, which is very high but most people still think the price is going to rise a lot more as the Burj Dubai nears completion," said Robert Macnair, branch manager of property consultants Sherwoods.

"Many of these properties have gone up 25% in value within the last three months alone.”

Downtown Burj Dubai is being marketed as "a city within a city", and will include 30,000 homes, nine hotels, 6.2 acres of parkland, 19 residential towers, the Dubai Mall, and a 30-acre manmade lake.

The Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world, will be the centrepiece of the $20 billion development.

Burj Dubai February 9th 2008 photo update

Burj Dubai February 9th 2008 photo update, here is a couple nice photos of the Burj Dubai.

A photo thats shows dubai in 2010 when many of the under-construction buildings are completed and of course burj dubai is included.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Emaar accelerates Burj Dubai construction

Construction of what will be the world's tallest structure, the Burj Dubai, has been stepped up to meet an accelerated schedule, Dubai developer Emaar Properties said on Tuesday, without giving further details.

The state-controlled company said metal cladding on the building is 50% complete, with the reflective material now covering 80 storeys of its exterior, an area of over 50,000 square metres.

“The architectural and design splendour of Burj Dubai is now coming to fruition with the installation of the cladding, which is being executed on an accelerated schedule,” Ahmad Al Matrooshi, UAE managing director of Emaar Properties, said in a statement.

“With 50% of the [cladding] work completed, Burj Dubai is setting new milestones in the speed of construction of super-high-rises."

Emaar announced last month the Burj Dubai reached the 600-metre mark as it continues to solidify its position as the tallest structure in the world.

At over 600 metres, the iconic mega-structure is over 90 metres higher than the world's tallest building, Taiwan's Taipei 101, and over 40 metres higher than the world's tallest free-standing structure, Toronto's CN Tower.

The only structure now left for the Burj to overtake is the KVLY/KTHI television mast in Blanchard, US, which measures 628.8 metres.

The Burj Dubai will not be officially recognised as the world's tallest structure until it is completed, which is expected before the end of 2008.

When completed, the tower will be the tallest building in the world in all four categories recognised by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which ranks buildings on the basis of spire height, the highest occupied floor, roof height and pinnacle height.

Construction of the building's concrete structure finished at around 585 metres and contractors are currently working on the steel structure on top and the spire.

The spire will be built from the inside of the building and raised up using a hydraulic pump - meaning that the height will be adjustable.

Emaar has remained tight lipped over the final height, but it is rumoured to be between 700 and 1,000 metres.

Local media reports last year said the final height of the Burj would be 818 metres, citing architects drawings posted on the internet.

The Burj Dubai is to be the centrepiece of a city within a city, Downtown Burj Dubai. The development as a whole will include 30,000 homes, nine hotels, 6.2 acres of parkland, 19 residential towers, the Dubai Mall, and a 30-acre manmade lake. The development will cost around $20 billion.

Emaar has partnered with South Korean construction firm Samsung Corporation and New York-based project manager Turner Construction on the project, which has been designed by Adrian Smith and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill of Chicago.