Most of the buyers of multimillion-dirham villas in the $6.4 billion Al Barari project, in Dubai, belong to South Asian countries, prominently Pakistan and India.
Briefing newsmen during a media breakfast in his office in Dubai's royal enclave of Nad Al Sheba on March 23, Mohammed Bin Zaal, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Al Barari, said that despite a severe financial crisis which had hit hard the newly developed countries like Dubai, and challenging market conditions, the family owned company had sold 70 percent of first phase of its flagship, multi-billion-dirham villas.
The villas of Al Barari, the only family owned and operated property developer in Dubai, have not only been sought by people from India and Pakistan but also from other regions like Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and America. Though the residential property prices in Dubai fell by up to 50 percent in 2009, Al Barari's 2007 villa prices of 20 to 50 million dirham remained unchanged, the CEO claimed.
Explaining the phenomenon of Al Barari's pricing strategy during the recent property crash, Zaal said a considered approach to value creation and sound master planning for the planned and high quality places were the key reasons for building confidence of the buyers. As a zero-debt company, Al Barari, founded in 2005 by Emirati entrepreneur and investor Zaal Mohamed Zaal, has been able to take advantage of the slowdown in the construction sector to speed up the project's progress, he said.
He said that another reason which contributed to the stable prices was restricted speculator involvement with the contractual clauses to prevent flipping while selling the residential units on a stringent 'know your customer' basis. He said that the company has handed over the ownership of more than 80 out of the planed 241 villas to their owners in phase-one of the project, while the master planning of second phase, which includes exclusive cultural quarters for residents, was in progress.
The newly developed 14.2 million square feet of natural and landscaped gardens would also offer markets, grand mosque, restaurants, cafes, boutique stores, entertainment facilities, studio offices etc, he added. He said: "Although our rate of conversion did slow down last year, there were around 10 sales of Al Barari properties on the secondary market which had marginal fluctuations in price. This tells us that Al Barari is being offered at fair market value. Investors have decided that current valuations are an accurate assessment of Al Barari's worth. We also continue to see clear demand for the botanical lifestyle we are offering," Bin Zaal said.
He said that the company has invested a lot of its own money in the development, and built substations, sewerage treatment plants and all the connections for the water, electricity. "Our variations depend on the market and on the demand. We've reduced the number of villas to give people more land which was popular and helped us a lot," Zaal added.
Talking to Business Recorder, he said though Al Barari has no plan to introduce the same program in Pakistan and India in near future, it was eyeing towards Qatar, Oman, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia. He said that the family-owned company was importing materials used in billions of dollar project from different countries including Pakistan.
He said the company was not interested to start a mass housing system, as the current project was the only way to sustain the business through introducing quality of living. The authentic Arabian architecture combined with contemporary design in these villas with landscaped botanical surroundings each villa is a harmonious blend of traditional and modern architecture, he said, adding that the residents can choose from a wide range of villa types (namely Acacia, Bromelia and Dahlia) and finishes to make their home as individual as they are.
Later, the media persons also visited the company's nursery where Kamelia Bin Zaal, Landscape Creative Director for Al Barari, also briefed them about different plants planted for greenery and botanical garden of the project which, she said, have over 4.6 million trees and 1,800 different plant varieties.