TYPE: OFFICE TOWERS AND OFFICE PARK
END DATE: September 2006
NUMBER OF TOWERS: 35+ commercial towers + 400 residential buildings
The Capital of Dubai, Dubai International Financial Centre
DIFC officials are briefing local business groups on what to expect. It's huge, 1.2 million square metres, 34,000 car parking spaces. By 2010, 20,000 people will work in the world's newest financial services centre.
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The upcoming Dubai International Financial Centre will be officially launched on September 23 and the first tenants of this huge mixed-use development will move in on July 14, 2004.
Needless to say the launch of the DIFC is being timed to coincide with the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in the city. But even the most hardened veteran of international finance will not fail to be impressed by the breath-taking plans for the DIFC.
As the world's first fully-integrated, green field financial centre the DIFC is aiming to get its planning right from the start. There will be 34,000 car parking spaces on four levels under the complex. Not only the largest car park in the world, but an essential feature in a city with limited public transport and very hot summers.
However, the whole aim is to create a city within a city, the 'Capital of Dubai' as it will be known. Only 20 per cent of floor space will be given over to banks, the rest will be for corporate offices, residential units, two hotels and every imaginable business service activity.
The first phase will be 100,000 square metres of space by 'The Gate', the translucent office-arch that will form the entrance to Dubai's most novel free zone. But this is merely a foretaste of the 1.2 million square metres of accommodation to be built over the next six-and-a-half years.
Within the walls of the DIFC companies will trade according to the commercial and civil laws established exclusively for the DIFC and drawn up by international lawyers to the highest global standards. Thus a unique legal and trading environment for financial services will be established.
Officials say a regional stock exchange managed by one of Europe's largest exchanges is under development. With an estimated 90 privatizations to come in the Middle East the DIFC hopes to be at the forefront of modernizing regional capital markets.
This business alone should prove a magnet to the giants of global finance, and the DIFC has pitched itself to attracting the biggest names in the global industry. It is not trying to copy Bahrain which is already a hub for regional banks and Islamic banking.
Nonetheless, the scale of development at the DIFC is mind-blowing and highly ambitious. The cautious bankers who assemble in Dubai this week may scratch their heads in disbelief and wonder if it will really be done.
They should be aware that Dubai has successfully grown its economy by 6% a year while seeing oil income fall from 50% of GDP in 1985 to 7% today. Against that sort of a background anything is possible, and the impossible is usually done at once.
LIST OF BUILDINGS IN PROJECT
THE GATE, 15F, UC
THE GATE, 15F, UC 2 x 30F Res towers
The Residences at DIFC 2 x 30F Res towers
3 WINGED LATTIC TOWER 60F In Desgin
HEXAGONAL TOWER 1 50F+ In Desgin
HEXAGONAL TOWER 2 30F+ In Desgin
HEXAGONAL TOWER 3 20F+ In Desgin
HEXAGONAL TOWER 4 20F+ In Desgin
At Least 6, 8F Buildings Final Desgin Stage
Landmark building planned in DIFC
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Nexus Capital SA are to jointly develop a $260 million mixed use real estate complex called The Hexagon. According to DIFC, the joint venture project is aimed at attracting foreign direct investment into the DIFC.
The 1.4 million square foot complex will feature smart offices, residential spaces, a five star boutique hotel, a rooftop garden and a private business club. Another feature will be an educational campus that will be targeted at business schools and executive education providers.
In terms of design, the complex will feature four hexagonal buildings, whose main tower will be more than 50 stories high.
“HH Sheikh Mohammed’s vision for the DIFC is to create a truly world class financial centre to rival those of London, New York and Hong Kong. The Hexagon epitomises this vision,” said Naser Nabulsi, CEO of DIFC.
“The Hexagon will pass the advantages of the DIFC jurisdiction onto our future tenants and investors,” added Damien Tappy, chairman of Nexus Capital SA.
"These advantages include: 100% foreign ownership, 0% tax, freehold of properties, a world class framework of financial and commercial laws and the freedom to repatriate capital and profits. The Hexagon will truly be a pivotal project in this landmark and visionary new financial district.”
Rising fifteen storeys on a 110 acres site to the south of the Dubai Emirates Towers landmark, the Gate is the architectural signature building of the DIFC. Designed by US architects, Gensler, this iconic building will house the Centre's executive offices, the Dubai Financial Services Authority and the Dubai International Financial Exchange, as well as providing prime office space for leading international financial institutions.
The DIFC, of which the Gate represents the first phase of development, will be a unique integration of buildings, which in combination will offer everything you would expect to find in a world-class cosmopolitan city - including offices, serviced apartments, hotels, shops and restaurants.
Within this self-contained location will be a city that has been planned and designed to become the ultimate in convenience for anyone seeking to live, work and enjoy their leisure time in one strategic location. The inclusion of a museum, an art gallery and a performing arts centre will add to the Centre's attraction as a resort destination. People will be able to walk from one part of the city complex to another in a temperature controlled environment, and on the outer perimeter there will be an automated transit system circumnavigating the entire district.
The DIFC, which will eventually provide several million square feet of ultra-modern office space, is a world-class financial district planned and built from the ground up. It is designed to meet the most exacting demands of the world's most sophisticated financial institutions (and the professionals who work for them), regardless of the scale and scope of their needs.
The Gate and Surrounding towers
Thanks to trances at SSC for these wonderful pics!!!
Cheers
