The Telegraph:

 

 

 

 

Dubai's Palm Jumeirah sees prices fall as crunch moves in

 

Property prices on the Palm Jumeirah, the island in Dubai that has been dubbed the ‘eighth wonder of the world’, have plummeted by as much as 40pc since September amid fears that the global credit crisis is stalling the emirate’s economy.

 

 

By Louise Armitstead

Last Updated: 2:42PM GMT 20 Nov 2008

 

 

The economic concerns come as the world’s biggest man-made island, which is created in the shape of a date palm, prepares to throw a $20m extravaganza for today’s launch of the £1bn Atlantis hotel on the Palm.

 

More than 2,000 world celebrities are due to attend the event tonight including Oprah Winfrey and actors Robert De Niro and Denzel Washington. Sol Kerzner, the South African billionnaire owner of the Atlantis is organizing the launch party...

 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/constructionandproperty/3489393/Dubais-Palm-Jumeirah-sees-prices-fall-as-crunch-moves-in.html

Why on earth does Dubai keep building these ridiculously tall buildings.  Other than the ego element, I can't imagine those buildings are all that necessary or  practical, not to mention that 100+ story buildings in a (somewhat) Western friendly Muslim state is...a little disconcerting.

 

No offense intended by that last comment, just an observation.

did you see that nutty fireworks show? geez lah weez!

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2008/11/20/2008416538.jpg

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2008/11/20/2008416560.jpg

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2008/11/20/2008416580.jpg

 

lots of stars were there too. hey look, it's lily allen!  :laugh:

 

Riding through Dubai on my bike all day

Cause the filth took away my license

It doesn't get me down and I feel OK

Cause the sights that I'm seeing are priceless

 

Everything seems to look as it should

But I wonder what goes on behind doors

A fella looking dapper, but he's sitting with a slapper

Then I see it's a pimp and his crack whore

 

You might laugh you might frown

Walkin' round Dubai town

 

[Chorus]

Sun is in the sky oh why oh why ?

Would I wanna be anywhere else

Sun is in the sky oh why oh why ?

Would I wanna be anywhere else

 

When you look with your eyes

Everything seems nice

But if you look twice

you can see it's all lies....

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2008/11/20/2008416579.jpg 

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2008/11/20/2008416567.jpg  

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2008/11/20/2008416553.jpg

Why on earth does Dubai keep building these ridiculously tall buildings.  Other than the ego element, I can't imagine those buildings are all that necessary or  practical, not to mention that 100+ story buildings in a (somewhat) Western friendly Muslim state is...a little disconcerting.

 

No offense intended by that last comment, just an observation.

 

Dubai is just in it's faze of seeing who can build the tallest and greatest. The U.S. went through this for many years...and more recently China.

 

It's also going to be the world's greatest amount of vacant office space.

babu, he's a star!  :wink2:

 

 

Dubai vows to keep building despite global crisis

Debts have cast a shadow on the Dubai dream.

 

By Louise Armitstead

Last Updated: 11:09AM GMT 30 Nov 2008

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01123/palm_dubai_1123603c.jpg

 

He does not know it, but Babu Sassi, a fearless young man from Kerala in southern India, is the cult hero of Dubai’s army of construction workers.

 

Known as the “Indian on top of the world”, Mr Sassi is the crane operator at the tallest building on earth – the 819m Burj Dubai. Sassi’s office, the cramped crane cab precariously perched on top of the Burj, is also his home – apparently it takes too long to come down to ground level each day to make it worthwhile.  :-o

 

In his absence, stories about his daily dalliance with death are discussed in revered terms by Dubai’s workers. Some say he has been up there for over a year, others whisper that he’s paid 30,000Dh (£5,300) a month compared with the average wage of 800Dh (£140) per month. All agree he’s worth it. One chat room post said: “[sassi] must be a real expert at cranes or totally insane.”

 

MORE AT:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/3536012/Dubai-vows-to-keep-building-despite-global-crisis.html

 

now that's craaaazy, man!  :wink2:

 

 

Chill Out on Dubious Dubai's First Refrigerated Beach

 

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.15.08

 

http://www.treehugger.com/versace-2.jpg

versace hotel dubai

 

It's hot in Dubai, averaging 40C (104F) and often hitting 50C (122F) in summer. Perhaps tourists visiting this desert locale don't check this out before they book their junket (or the rules about what you can do on the beach Green bikinis are okay, right?). Or perhaps if you can afford to stay at the new Palazzo Versace you expect nature to be bent to your will. You expect cool sand. That is what Soheil Abedian, founder of the hotel, thinks:

 

    “We will suck the heat out of the sand to keep it cool enough to lie on,” he said. “This is the kind of luxury that top people want.”

 

http://www.treehugger.com/versace-dubai.jpg

 

 

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/chill-out-dubai-refrigerated-beach.php

I want my plug in car yesterday!

I guess you CAN built Rome in a day.....or atleast a couple of decades! I'm sorry, but this place is like the Las Vegas of the middle east! And like the one here, its just as cheap and tacky!

"The hopes of the financial system, most obviously the banks, have been pinned on securing cash injections from the Middle East, while hundreds of thousands of City workers are looking to the region for new jobs. If Dubai can't pay its debts, much of which is owed to international banks, the emirate could turn from potential saviour to yet another big problem."

 

This is very important to consider. No one should wish death on Dubai, because the banks who finance international development in Dubai also finance stuff here. The vitality of Dubai effects NYC, Chicago, Shanghai, etc. Really, what happend in Dubai is no different than what we are at fault for in the U.S. with residential and commercial development. I imagine it's hard to say "look, this huge complex you want us to design is not sustainable" when you as an international firm are going to make a lot of money off of it in the short term.

 

Why on earth does Dubai keep building these ridiculously tall buildings.  Other than the ego element, I can't imagine those buildings are all that necessary or  practical, not to mention that 100+ story buildings in a (somewhat) Western friendly Muslim state is...a little disconcerting.

 

No offense intended by that last comment, just an observation.

 

Our architecture/engineering firms depend on it.  Without these projects, expect the largest US firms in that sector to collapse.  A couple of my friends work for firms in Chicago doing exclusively work in the middle east since even public projects in the US are slow.

some hoohoo haha from curbed...the grim reaper cometh to dubai:

 

 

Eye on Dubai Arrested Development Edition: Grim Tidings for Nakheel Tower and Jumeira Gardens

 

Monday, January 26, 2009, by Lockhart

 

 

The reaper, friends, he knows no borders. Which is why we now find him roaming the deserts of Dubai, looking for ambitious projects announced just before the economic downturn to draw tight with his scythe. Today, he's come for two announced in October: Nakheel Tower, the latest to aim for the title of tallest building in the word; and Jumeira Gardens, a "city within a city," a universe of plenty. Details on both are sketchy, but at best, we're looking at long delays, and at worst—well, the reaper has spoken.

 

· Work on Two Landmark Dubai Projects Halted [Raising the Roof]

· All Nakheel Tower Coverage [Curbed]

· All Jumeira Gardens Coverage [Curbed]

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2009/01/26/eye_on_dubai_arrested_development_edition_grim_tidings_for_nakheel_tower_and_jumeira_gardens.php

February 12, 2009

Laid-Off Foreigners Flee as Dubai Spirals Down

By ROBERT F. WORTH

 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Sofia, a 34-year-old Frenchwoman, moved here a year ago to take a job in advertising, so confident about Dubai’s fast-growing economy that she bought an apartment for almost $300,000 with a 15-year mortgage.

 

Now, like many of the foreign workers who make up 90 percent of the population here, she has been laid off and faces the prospect of being forced to leave this Persian Gulf city — or worse.

 

“I’m really scared of what could happen, because I bought property here,” said Sofia, who asked that her last name be withheld because she is still hunting for a new job. “If I can’t pay it off, I was told I could end up in debtors’ prison.”

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/world/middleeast/12dubai.html

you stopped quoting too soon!

 

the next paragraph was a real eye opener!!!  :-o

 

"With Dubai’s economy in free fall, newspapers have reported that more than 3,000 cars sit abandoned in the parking lot at the Dubai Airport, left by fleeing, debt-ridden foreigners (who could in fact be imprisoned if they failed to pay their bills). Some are said to have maxed-out credit cards inside and notes of apology taped to the windshield."

 

 

you stopped quoting too soon!

 

the next paragraph was a real eye opener!!!  :o

 

"With Dubai’s economy in free fall, newspapers have reported that more than 3,000 cars sit abandoned in the parking lot at the Dubai Airport, left by fleeing, debt-ridden foreigners (who could in fact be imprisoned if they failed to pay their bills). Some are said to have maxed-out credit cards inside and notes of apology taped to the windshield."

 

One of my employees from DC left the states for a job there. Now he's unemployed.  Karma is a bitch!

Stick a fork in Dubai.  The Burj Dubai, not unlike the Empire State Building, might very well go decades before reaching anything approaching full occupancy.  Problem is Dubai just built about 50 Empire State Buildings.  What a total, catastrophic waste.

Though I bet Dubai urban planners are saying "See! We told you so, this is why we kept those towers out of the historic city center." 

 

If they do recover eventually, it won't be a total waste.  Scaling back would really help add some diversity in building size and height to the new downtown.  Okay, you got your towers, now start building closer to the ground like the rest of us.

aww, and we were so quick to say du-bai...!  :laugh:

 

Dubai down but not out

Burj Dubai Tower, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Tuesday 24 Mar 2009

 

 

 

http://static.worldarchitecturenews.com/project/uploaded_files/11335_notturno%20copia%20per%20CV%20A4.jpg

 

As the recession digs its claws into Dubai, architects refuse to concede as designs continue

Stories of the mass abandonment of Dubai, lack of investment and a general depression in the once buzzing architectural centre have been rife in the international press of late. But it would seem that architects are not yet prepared to let go of their playground yet as this latest design shows...

 

 

 

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=11335

The dark side of Dubai

Tuesday, 7 April 2009

Dubai was meant to be a Middle-Eastern Shangri-La, a glittering monument to Arab enterprise and western capitalism. But as hard times arrive in the city state that rose from the desert sands, an uglier story is emerging. Johann Hari reports

 

 

Construction workers in their distinctive blue overalls building the upper floors of the new Burj al-Arab hotel.

 

The wide, smiling face of Sheikh Mohammed – the absolute ruler of Dubai – beams down on his creation. His image is displayed on every other building, sandwiched between the more familiar corporate rictuses of Ronald McDonald and Colonel Sanders. This man has sold Dubai to the world as the city of One Thousand and One Arabian Lights, a Shangri-La in the Middle East insulated from the dust-storms blasting across the region. He dominates the Manhattan-manqué skyline, beaming out from row after row of glass pyramids and hotels smelted into the shape of piles of golden coins. And there he stands on the tallest building in the world – a skinny spike, jabbing farther into the sky than any other human construction in history.

Some names in this article have been changed...

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai_b_183851.html

 

 

Wow, that was depressing.

I was just about to post that article.  While I not sure how much journalistic license was taken, I find the stories in the article far more believable than Dubai being purely a product of free markets. 

 

I find the section on raw sewage floating in the sea particularly interesting.  You'd think that they'd be on top of that, as it's one of their big tourist draws.  Aren't they worried about customer retention at all? 

 

 

I've also been wondering about urban decay since I first started reading about Dubai.  They've built far more infrastructure than they can possibly support.  What happens when you leave 70 story buildings empty with no maintenance whatsoever?  I foresee some fascinating and apocalyptic ruins in the not-so-distant future.

Well yet again a Dubai thread was shut down on Skyscraperpage because the same two little twerps from Dubai escalated things.  Those guys have been on that site for years and I think they illustrated these flawed attitudes perfectly.  They really don't understand the cycle of boom & bust and haven't realized that they very well might have to go out and get a job in a year or two.

 

Part of the problem with Dubai is that the culture doesn't have a history to learn from.  We all have been familiar with the fall of the Roman Empire since we were kids and were lectured by our grandparents on the hard living during the Depression.  The English-speaking world has thousands of fantastic literary works from which we draw wisdom and educated people all over the place.  Dubai was a bunch of illiterates in tents 50 years ago.  The Dubai people really thought they were somehow different and really had things figured out. 

 

I think near-total abandonment of Dubai is possible because the place will carry a foul stigma with it.  And if we are facing 10 years of limited economic growth, there will not be much western investment in Dubai unless they can find some Switzerland-like niche.  What that means is a lot of this stuff is going to fall into disrepair quickly and make Detroit look like Palm Springs. 

 

I can only imagine what it's going to be like in 30 years if kids are growing up there surrounded by a forest of abandoned high rises.  I suspect it would be absolutely humiliating. 

 

^I could be wrong, but I believe both of the SSPers are Emiratis.

Well yet again a Dubai thread was shut down on Skyscraperpage because the same two little twerps from Dubai escalated things.  Those guys have been on that site for years and I think they illustrated these flawed attitudes perfectly.  They really don't understand the cycle of boom & bust and haven't realized that they very well might have to go out and get a job in a year or two.

 

Part of the problem with Dubai is that the culture doesn't have a history to learn from.  We all have been familiar with the fall of the Roman Empire since we were kids and were lectured by our grandparents on the hard living during the Depression.  The English-speaking world has thousands of fantastic literary works from which we draw wisdom and educated people all over the place.  Dubai was a bunch of illiterates in tents 50 years ago.  The Dubai people really thought they were somehow different and really had things figured out. 

 

I think near-total abandonment of Dubai is possible because the place will carry a foul stigma with it.  And if we are facing 10 years of limited economic growth, there will not be much western investment in Dubai unless they can find some Switzerland-like niche.  What that means is a lot of this stuff is going to fall into disrepair quickly and make Detroit look like Palm Springs. 

 

I can only imagine what it's going to be like in 30 years if kids are growing up there surrounded by a forest of abandoned high rises.  I suspect it would be absolutely humiliating. 

 

 

Well said.

 

The movers and shakers weren't thinking long term. They were greedy. The ipod skyscraper alone says it all. You're modeling an expensive skyscraper after a commodity that in ten years will be an outdated form of technology. You don't see skyscrapers in Chicago modeled after VHS tapes. American firms knew the stuff wasn't sustainable but I'm sure they were laughing all the way to the bank after getting the contracts.

The physical form of the city is such an accurate metaphor for our current dysfunctional model of capitalism, it's scary.

 

 

YA'LL BETTER BE CLEANIN' THIS BITCH UP BEFORE YA'LL START POSTIN!!!

The Times

November 27, 2009

 

Dubai in deep water as ripples from debt crisis spread

 

Patrick Hosking and David Robertson

 

Fears of a dangerous new phase in the economic crisis swept around the globe yesterday as traders responded to the shock announcement that a debt-laden Dubai state corporation was unable to meet its interest bill.

 

...Nervous traders transferred the focus of their anxieties from the risk of companies failing to the risk of nation states defaulting. Investors owed money by Mexico, Russia and Greece saw the price of insuring themselves against default rocket.

 

 

....One analyst said that the fears were overdone because Abu Dhabi would eventually come to the rescue to save the UAE from embarrassment. Dubai World has liabilities of £36 billion, about three quarters of Dubai’s total state debt. Its subsidiary Nakheel built The Palm Islands development, but the property bubble in the emirate burst a year ago, leaving buildings unfinished, debts unpaid and paper fortunes erased."

 

Read more here: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/the_gulf/article6934261.ece

This whole Dubai situation is scary scary stuff, as it can REALLY be indicative of a collapsing commercial real estate market.  We're not even over the residential collapse, and now banks and businesses have THIS to deal with:(

Regardless of economics or philosophy, the fact is this building has shifted the "world's tallest" bar not a hundred feet or so, but by about 60%.  It's an epic engineering accomplishment on a Wonder of the World level.

This whole Dubai situation is scary scary stuff, as it can REALLY be indicative of a collapsing commercial real estate market. We're not even over the residential collapse, and now banks and businesses have THIS to deal with:(

 

Perhaps, it's a very extreme case, though.

Regardless of economics or philosophy, the fact is this building has shifted the "world's tallest" bar not a hundred feet or so, but by about 60%. It's an epic engineering accomplishment on a Wonder of the World level.

 

Except that the ability to go that high in the past wasn't limited by technology, it was limited by economy. Perhaps "collapse" works in both meanings here.

In a way, Dubai is doing vertical equivalent of what the US has been doing post-WWII: high-density car-oriented development.

Nice historical prespective on the mega tall Burj Dubai officially opening next month.

 

Rising above the meltdown

Burj Dubai is not the first record-setting skyscraper to go up while the economy around it crashes

 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- When work began in 2004 to build the world's tallest tower, Dubai's confidence also was sky-high, with a host of mega-projects on the drawing board or rising from the sands.  That swagger seems positively old-school these days.  It's been tripped up by a debt crunch that has humbled Dubai's leaders and exposed the shaky foundations of the city-state's boom years -- leaving the opening planned for Jan. 4 of the iconic Burj Dubai with a double significance of hello and goodbye.

 

The Burj Dubai -- a steel-and-glass needle rising more than a half-mile -- might be the last completed work from Dubai's time of the giants.  It's not the first time a skyscraper has gone up as the economy swooned.  New York's 102-story Empire State Building was designed as the world's tallest building just before the 1929 stock-market crash and opened in 1931 as the Great Depression was taking hold.  In 1999, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, officially opened to claim the world's-tallest crown two years after the financial meltdown of the once-soaring Southeast Asian economies.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2009/12/12/dubai_tallest_tower.ART0_ART_12-12-09_A8_TUFV4VM.html?sid=101

Burj Dubai Receives Opening Celebration — and New Name

 

At the opening of the Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest skyscraper, there were 10,000 fireworks, a dancing fountain, traditional Emirati dancers, skydivers and an impressive light show — but the biggest surprise of the evening came from Dubai’s ruler, Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

 

Shortly after making his signature entrance in his white G55 Mercedes, number plate 1, Sheik Mohammed stopped to make a brief speech, saying that the tower, which has so far been known as Burj Dubai, would be renamed Burj Khalifa, after the president of the United Arab Emirates and emir of Abu Dhabi, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan.  It is perhaps the most expensive naming rights deal in history and likely a reward for Abu Dhabi’s $10 billion bailout of Dubai in December after the emirate admitted it was struggling to deal with more than $80 billion of debt.

 

More at http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/01/04/burj-dubai-receives-opening-celebration-and-new-name/

From The Economist:

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Look on my works, ye Mighty

Jan 4th 2010

From Economist.com

 

The world’s tallest building opens in Dubai

 

At 828 metres (2,717 feet), the Burj Khalifa, which opened on Monday January 4th, dwarfs Taipei 101, which was previously the tallest tower anywhere, by 320 metres.  The tower has more than 160 floors and cost some $1.5 billion.  It is in danger, however, of being seen as the height of folly.  Construction began in 2004, when the economy of the United Arab Emirates was growing at 9.7%.  It is forecast to grow by just 2.4% this year and probably shrank by 0.2% in 2009.  This is not the first tower to be planned in the good times and then opened in a slump.  Countries home to many of the world's highest buildings (when they opened) saw their economies slump in the years between the start of construction and the official opening.  Our chart compares economic growth of the relevant country when a tower was opened, with the respective annual growth rate enjoyed half a decade earlier.

 

Full article at http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=7933596&story_id=15205024

World's tallest tower closed a month after opening

Published - Feb. 8, 2010 - 11:21AM EST

By ADAM SCHRECK - AP Business Writer

 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The world's tallest skyscraper has unexpectedly closed to the public a month after its lavish opening, disappointing tourists headed for the observation deck and casting doubt over plans to welcome its first permanent occupants in the coming weeks.

 

Electrical problems are at least partly to blame for the closure of the Burj Khalifa's viewing platform - the only part of the half-mile high tower open yet.  But a lack of information from the spire's owner left it unclear whether the rest of the largely empty building - including dozens of elevators meant to whisk visitors to the tower's more than 160 floors - was affected by the shutdown.

 

The indefinite closure, which began Sunday, comes as Dubai struggles to revive its international image as a cutting-edge Arab metropolis amid nagging questions about its financial health.  The Persian Gulf city-state had hoped the 2,717-foot (828-meter) Burj Khalifa would be a major tourist draw.  Dubai has promoted itself by wowing visitors with over-the-top attractions such as the Burj, which juts like a silvery needle out of the desert and can be seen from miles around.

 

Full article at http://www.rr.com/news/topic/article/rr/9000/10287992/Worlds_tallest_tower_closed_a_month_after_opening

I wonder how long it will take for Dubai to turn into a scene out of Mad Max.

WOW can it reach rock bottom???

Well, keep in mind most large projects deal with issues.  The Empire State Buliding for a long time was once the Empty State Building; Disneyland didn't open exactly as planned; and EPCOT was a massive failure in the beginning.  This ain't new.

Researching this thread....

 

My wife has the offer to transfer to an affiliated school in Dubai- she's a teacher in Lorain, OH.  Right now the school administrator over there is considering her salary request.

 

If it's reasonable to her, she's going to accept. It's a temporary position, ending mid- June.

 

 

Man they are going all out. wow

 

https://www.facebook.com/DubaiCity1/photos/a.325758307540754.76860.325736120876306/647631595353422/?type=1&theater

79-story apartment tower in Dubai engulfed in flames!!

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6724728

79-story apartment tower in Dubai engulfed in flames!!

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6724728

 

The Torch tower, no less....

http://www.fujairahobserver.ae/news/daredevil-poses-for-skyscraper-selfie-after-climbing-burj-khalifa-9705.html

the dubai marina seems to be the hotspot of development lately:

 

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/hard-rock-hotel-set-open-in-dubai-marina-569580.html

 

 

also, i saw something about restarting a world's tallest residential tower, the pentominium, hows that for a moniker? not sure what happened or how that is going:

 

http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/work-to-restart-on-world-s-tallest-residential-tower-2014-03-17-1.541834

In reference to Star Wars-The Force Awakens being released this weekend, I bring you two photos. First, Galactic City:

 

 

 

Second, Dubai -- a photo from Doug Nagy....

 

In reference to Star Wars-The Force Awakens being released this weekend, I bring you two photos. First, Galactic City:

 

 

 

Second, Dubai -- a photo from Doug Nagy....

 

 

That looks like art not photography...

It's quite real.

Another tower fire in Dubai:

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35207451