High Prospects

Arabian Construction Company has built the core of the tower up to level 64, with another 20 floors to go until the last residential level will be co
[More Images]

RELATED ARTICLES: Tiger Steel awarded Elite Residence contract | Elite Residence Tower on track for 2011 completion | ACC to build Elite

It is, one of several high-profile residential projects in Dubai to get back on its feet this year, but Elite Residence is by far among the fastest-progressing.

Constructed as far up as the 64th floor with just 20 residential levels and a roof still to go, the tower, quite literally, has high prospects.

Advancing quickly and efficiently alongside its sister project The Princess Tower, (located just metres away), Tameer’s second-tallest, quickest-moving development is a clear indication that Dubai is looking forward to an upturn.

“The recession has had an impact on the Elite, I would be lying if I said otherwise,” says Tameer’s chief development officer John Zwets.

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Please click here to comment on this article

“Although we had sold the majority of the [residential] units at that time, the financial crisis impacted on how people deployed their capital and paid their bills. One of those bills was to satisfy their agreements with the developer. It became more labour intensive to get people to make payments.”

He goes on to say how, as a result, it became more difficult to pay the main contractor Arabian Construction Company, which in turn slowed construction down and delayed the project by as long as six months (though he reiterates that the scheduled completion date has not changed since the project received RERA approval in August 2009).

And yet today, it is almost as if the downturn never happened. Up on the 64th floor, a level which so far consists of just the lift shaft or ‘core’ of the building, workers are preparing steel for concrete casting, and ‘jumpform’ formwork is in place ready to be deployed for further upward excursions.

IN PICTURES: Elite Residence site visit

Luckily for the workers, safety seems to be a priority for the developer. As well as being equipped with safety hats, the men are enclosed by what looks like a rather secure fencing structure. “We are very focused on safety,” says Tameer’s development director Darren Ingram, adding: “as a result, we have had no major incidents on site.”

Valued somewhere between US $250million and US $299million, with a total built-up area of 135,760m², the project involves construction of a 380m tower located close to Dubai Marina, facing The Palm Jumeirah – the aim being to provide panoramic views of one of Dubai’s most prestigious stretches of real estate.

When finished, it will have a total of 91 floors, including four basements, the ground floor and an additional 86 floors above ground level, with four parking decks and 82 residential levels.

It will offer 697 residential units to wealthy investors, with amenities such as temperature-controlled swimming pools, high speed elevators, a ballroom and a billiards hall.