Next year will mark some major property milestones for the two largest cities in the UAE.
In Abu Dhabi, residents are due to start moving into homes on Reem Island and office staff are expected to start working at new premises on Sowwah Island. The moves are part of Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 in action and are likely to result in a major change in the look and feel of the capital.
In Dubai, meanwhile, thousands of new homes, offices and shops are expected to come on to the market even as prices decline.
That is likely to mean a fall in the cost of living, which some say will seed the emirate's economic recovery. Given Dubai's new infrastructure and appealing lifestyle, more companies from around the region will probably select the city as their headquarters.
As the year draws to a close, developers have taken a more realistic approach to property. Jones Lang LaSalle said in a recent report the challenges of the global property market had "forced developers to reassess their schemes, scale back more ambitious projects, seek alternative means of funding and plan products more aligned to the end-user".
In many ways, the UAE's property industry is in the midst of responding to the worldwide property slowdown.
Some 60 per cent of projects announced in Abu Dhabi in 2008 and perhaps even more in Dubai are expected to be cut back. Prices have declined by between 30 per cent and 70 per cent in some areas, analysts say, because of the global economic crisis.
The country will continue to face a challenging financing environment. Whether they are dealing with a buyer trying to find the 30 per cent down payment required to buy a home or a developer trying to finish the last leg of a building with debt, banks are still cautious about lending in the sector.
What is more, next year could be one of major legal issues in the country's property sector. In Dubai, the enactment of the strata law will play out prominently as owners get to grips with building maintenance and unpaid bills.
Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Government is widely expected to unveil a package of laws to govern the emirate's property sector, including a form of the strata law and an escrow law.
Whatever happens, the sector will remain one of the closest-watched in the UAE, featuring as it does architecturally ambitious towers, high drama and a tangle of disputes. Developments to watch next year include:
Sun and Sky Towers
Reem Island will next year become the latest centre of high-end living in the capital. Originally designed as a forest of towers, the island project was revamped after the property downturn.
The two most prominent developments are Sorouh Real Estate's Sun and Sky Towers and Reem Developers' Marina Square.
Sun and Sky Towers are among the tallest buildings in Abu Dhabi and command unique views of the city and the waterways through the mangroves.
The two buildings are connected by a five-story "podium" that is planned to contain restaurants, laundries and other amenities for residents. On top of the podium will be a pool and fitness facilities.
Marina Square is akin to Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai, with a cluster of 12 towers facing Abu Dhabi island. They will add more than 3,000 new homes. It is planned to have a waterfront promenade with shops and eventually a mall next door.
Some 200,000 people are expected to move to Reem when projects have been completed.
Sowwah Square
Abu Dhabi's answer to Canary Wharf in London, Sowwah Island is the new Central Business District of the city. The first four buildings, called Sowwah Square, will start welcoming their first tenants next year. Eventually the square will include a new headquarters for the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in a "floating" structure atop four columns.
Sowwah Square is expected to add 450,000 square metres of living space to the market.
The island has been quietly active during the property downturn, with several financial institutions buying plots on which to build headquarters, and hotel operators announcing plans to open there.
GCC nationals can fully own homes and offices on Sowwah Island, while foreigners from outside the six-country bloc will be able to acquire 99-year leases on property.
Sowwah Island will be a crucial link between Saadiyat, Reem and Abu Dhabi islands, with 13 bridges planned. It is expected one day to be home to 30,000 residents and 80,000 office workers.
Dubai Marina Project
Dubai is on track for another record when the Princess Tower is finished next year and stakes its claim as the world's tallest residential tower.
The 107-storey tower is planned to rise 414 metres, passing the 78-storey, 323-metre Q1 tower in Australia. The Princess will be just one of several eye-catching developments at Dubai Marina, which is now often referred to as "the tallest block in the world".
More than 200 towers are planned, including the 516-metre Pentominium, planned to surpass the Princess Tower as the world's tallest residential building when it is completed, which is likely to be in 2013.
Other towers under construction include the 380-metre Elite Residence tower and the 395-metre 23 Marina.
In addition, several other projects are progressing at the Marina, a master-planned development that is fast becoming the city's residential centre.
The list of developments scheduled for completion within the next year includes Cayan Real Estate Investment and Development's Silverene, which features one 35-storey glass tower and a companion 26-storey tower, and Damac Properties' 310-metre Ocean Heights.
Business Bay
Even by Dubai's standards, Business Bay is an audacious project. The 743,224 sq metre development is planned to include more than 200 towers and house more than 190,000 residents in a business district that has been likened to Tokyo's Ginza district or New York City's Financial District.
Construction slowed this year after the financial situation at Dubai Holding, the parent of the master developer Dubai Properties. But Dubai Properties has indicated that work is resuming on the infrastructure, as well as individual projects.
Dubai Properties Group has already announced plans to complete Bay Avenue, a two-storey, 16,258 sq metre retail centre. Various outside developers are also moving forward with their plans.
This year, the developer Deyaar handed over five towers and Damac Properties started preliminary work on seven projects.
Over the next 12 months, progress in Business Bay, a bellwether for the construction industry and the amount of available space in Dubai, will be closely monitored.
Projects scheduled for completion in the bay this year include the 31-storey Silver Tower and the 32-storey Regal Tower.
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
THE SPECS
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Teaching in coronavirus times
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Scotland's team:
15-Sean Maitland, 14-Darcy Graham, 13-Nick Grigg, 12-Sam Johnson, 11-Byron McGuigan, 10-Finn Russell, 9-Ali Price, 8-Magnus Bradbury, 7-Hamish Watson, 6-Sam Skinner, 5-Grant Gilchrist, 4-Ben Toolis, 3-Willem Nel, 2-Stuart McInally (captain), 1-Allan Dell
Replacements: 16-Fraser Brown, 17-Gordon Reid, 18-Simon Berghan, 19-Jonny Gray, 20-Josh Strauss, 21-Greig Laidlaw, 22-Adam Hastings, 23-Chris Harris
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Mica
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16. first leg
Atletico Madrid v Juventus, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Third-place play-off: New Zealand v Wales, Friday, 1pm
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Brolliology: A History of the Umbrella in Life and Literature
By Marion Rankine
Melville House
Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
Six tips to secure your smart home
Most smart home devices are controlled via the owner's smartphone. Therefore, if you are using public wi-fi on your phone, always use a VPN (virtual private network) that offers strong security features and anonymises your internet connection.
Keep your smart home devices’ software up-to-date. Device makers often send regular updates - follow them without fail as they could provide protection from a new security risk.
Use two-factor authentication so that in addition to a password, your identity is authenticated by a second sign-in step like a code sent to your mobile number.
Set up a separate guest network for acquaintances and visitors to ensure the privacy of your IoT devices’ network.
Change the default privacy and security settings of your IoT devices to take extra steps to secure yourself and your home.
Always give your router a unique name, replacing the one generated by the manufacturer, to ensure a hacker cannot ascertain its make or model number.
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MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
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POSSIBLE ENGLAND EURO 2020 SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, Dean Henderson.
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The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
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The nine articles of the 50-Year Charter
1. Dubai silk road
2. A geo-economic map for Dubai
3. First virtual commercial city
4. A central education file for every citizen
5. A doctor to every citizen
6. Free economic and creative zones in universities
7. Self-sufficiency in Dubai homes
8. Co-operative companies in various sectors
9: Annual growth in philanthropy
Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners
Scores
Day 2
New Zealand 153 & 56-1
Pakistan 227
New Zealand trail by 18 runs with nine wickets remaining
