My Own Home takes you inside a reader-owned property to ask how much they paid, why they decided to buy and what they have done with it since moving in
When British PR professional Sophie Ghavidel and her Iranian husband, Hamed, were only months away from having their first child, they moved into a Palm Jumeirah penthouse that was full of potential.
Hamed, who works in property, loves a transformation project and began extensive renovations, overhauling everything from the penthouse's pipework to the infrared sauna and walk-in closets.
They bought their home for Dh6 million but now, two years later, it’s worth Dh17 million, thanks to the upgrades and a booming property market.
The National takes a look around.
Please tell us about your home.
Hamed: There are four bedrooms – one is a study/bedroom. There are three very spacious bedrooms upstairs. They all have their own bathrooms, and two of them have walk-in closets.
There’s also a bar and a living room upstairs, then a dining area and sitting area downstairs. There’s also a maid’s room, maid’s bathroom, kitchen and a laundry room.
Why did you choose this property?
Sophie: I sold my PR business when I was having our first daughter and had a year where I was on maternity leave and had a non-compete agreement, and this whole house project fitted in.
Hamed: We wanted to find a home for our new daughter and I liked these penthouses because of their scale and the size. I always wanted to do something nice with them, because I feel like they're under-appreciated.
Why have you named your penthouse?
Sophie: We called it the Viola Penthouse because our daughter is called Viola.
Hamed: We had already named her. Then I picked out some marble and asked what it was called and they said it’s the Carrera Viola. So I said that’s definitely what I’m taking. Then it became the name of the penthouse too.
Sophie: It became a bit of a tribute to her.
What renovations have you done?
Hamed: The renovations took around 10 months. We had to correct a lot of things first. We increased the cooling capacity, we relocated the electrical works as per the new design, and all the air conditioning and piping.
Then, on the design side, there is a bedroom downstairs that we thought would be great for a study. I decided to open up that room and put in sliding doors so you can see the rest of the house. But if you need privacy, you just close the doors.
We put in a small spa next to the study, with an infrared sauna and provision to put an ice bath outside on the balcony.
The kitchen was a bit small, so we tried to extend it as much as we could. We opened it up at the front. We extended an island out towards the living room, and put in a fridge and a small breakfast counter.
We've used marble in all the bathrooms. Then the master bedroom and bathroom and the walk-in wardrobe have had major upgrades. The walk-in wardrobe is about 40 per cent larger. In the bathroom we created a separate WC with an enclosure, two showers – his and hers, then a double sink as well.
Why did you choose Palm Jumeirah?
Hamed: I think it's the best location in Dubai. There are a lot of options to buy in Dubai, and we can extend as much as possible into the desert, but there is only one Palm Jumeirah that has already been established. There's limited supply of land and properties, so it's kind of like the Manhattan, if you compare it to New York.
We've seen continuous growth and it hasn't slowed down since 2020.
Sophie: I've always felt like the Palm, and maybe also with DIFC or Downtown, it's one of the few areas in Dubai where it's finite. You can't expand it, and you can't really build higher because you've got restrictions.
When I came to Dubai, and I was in my mid-twenties, I just remember having a very small apartment on the shoreline, the worst building on the shoreline when you come over the bridge. There was no view, but for me, when I was 20-odd, I felt like I was living. I thought, this is me. I was just so in love with the Palm and everything it represented.
What facilities do you have access to?
Hamed: We have access to the beach, to several pools, a gym. We have a sauna in the property. You have access to West Beach, all the beach clubs. There are a lot of nice beach clubs that are walking distance, but you can also walk over to Golden Mile. The mall is just a couple of minutes away. There’s a nursery there, different gyms, restaurants. It’s good for kids.
Sophie: It’s quite well located. It’s very easy to get to because you don't have to do U-turns, you just come around.
Did you buy with a view to selling it?
Hamed: It was to live in, but we said if we were going to sell it, it had to have an appreciated value. I always take that into consideration when I approach a property. But it was with a view to live in it and make it functional for a family or four or five.
Sophie: It seemed like an opportunity. What could we do with it? And along the way it morphed into the Viola. It ended up winning a design award in February and at that point we felt it had been great, but we wanted to look for a villa.
Where would you like to move to now?
Sophie: We're exploring different options.
Hamed: I personally like Jumeirah a lot because I've been in Dubai for 27 years, and Jumeirah is one of the oldest communities. But Palm is always an option.
I don't look at properties just with one angle. There are so many different factors that need to work together.
Location is one thing, but then the property itself. The way it's laid out, the opportunity to upgrade it and add value to it. Then the deal in terms of price and return on investment. You need to put all these factors together and if everything works, then it's a go.
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
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6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; (Dirt) 1,200m
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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.”
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2. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari) at 0.658sec
3. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Red Bull) 6.012
4. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 7.430
5. Kimi Räikkönen (FIN/Ferrari) 20.370
6. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Haas) 1:13.160
7. Sergio Pérez (MEX/Force India) 1 lap
8. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Force India) 1 lap
9. Felipe Massa (BRA/Williams) 1 lap
10. Lance Stroll (CAN/Williams) 1 lap
11. Jolyon Palmer (GBR/Renault) 1 lap
12. Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL/McLaren) 1 lap
13. Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Renault) 1 lap
14. Pascal Wehrlein (GER/Sauber) 1 lap
15. Marcus Ericsson (SWE/Sauber) 2 laps
16. Daniil Kvyat (RUS/Toro Rosso) 3 laps
