Developer reacts to reader complaints

Damac has said the majority of issues reported at The Crescent are beyond its control

Damac has defended itself against complaints made by ConstructionWeekOnline readers regarding ongoing issues at The Crescent in IMPZ, following a report earlier this week that tenants in the building were forming a residents’ group to present grievances to the developer.

A spokesperson for Damac explained that the majority of complaints were for issues beyond its control.

“Obviously I cannot comment on all the points relating to the master developer. Damac Properties is in regular communication with our customers. We have a dedicated Customer Relationship Department that liaise with customers on a daily basis,” said Damac senior VP of corporate communications Niall McLoughlin, in a statement to Construction Week. “We have regular discussions with informal owners associations at our projects, but as you will know until such time as the Strata laws are implemented, official owners associations cannot legally be formed, and as such we are dealing with customers on an individual one to one basis.”

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“In regard to internet and TV connections, all the building and all apartments at The Crescent are ready to receive cabling from the service provider. The timeline for these connections are with the service provider and not Damac, and we encourage all tenants to directly contact the provider.”

“Like many areas of the city, parking is a challenge. When people purchased their units they were offered the opportunity to purchase reserved undercover parking. Some people availed of this and others choose not to purchase. It was totally their decision. We identified early on that municipal parking restrictions in the area would present tenants with challenges and we subsequently developed a programme especially for tenants that were renting units whereby they can rent undercover spaces at a nominal monthly rate. We were not compelled to do this but wanted to try and assist in this issue. This offer is still available to people renting.”

“In regard to the maintenance fee, we have reduced this twice since the building was handed over. With RERA’s approval, a final budget was introduced with service charges at AED12 per sq foot, which are well below the industry average across the city,” he concluded.

Visitors to ConstructionWeekOnline.com have been forthright in their comments posted on site.

"I do find it appalling that many of the basic services are not available including internet, TV and phone, let alone the parking issue which is quite simply scandalous. Damac need to be fined and penalised for its services and build quality - they were quick to take our money but have provided little of what they have promised," said Chris Xenophontos.

Meanwhile, ‘Khalid’ was dissatisfied by service charges and air-conditioning provision. “I moved in to Crescent and there was no air conditioning! They charged me AED18,000 for chilling and I have had to stay without AC for two months. The funny thing, they even charged us for the period when AC was not working,” he said, also citing the security and cleaning provision as lacking compared to the service charge paid.

Not all commenters were as critical about the development. ‘An owner’ said, “Yes, the Crescent isn't perfect just yet but just have some patience, it's the price you pay for being a pioneer,” pointing out that residential complaints were harming the ability of owners to rent out their property.