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Long after owners and tenants have moved in to the much-acclaimed Jumeirah Beach Residence apartments in Dubai, work is yet to commence on the project's recreational facilities.
Touted as a luxury development, JBR has disappointed owners with serial delays, a scrambled handover process, poor finishes to the exterior of the buildings, and the non-completion of recreational and retail facilities.
The forty tower, 7,000 apartments on the 1.7 kilometre long, 2.2 million square metres of beachfront, adjacent to Dubai Marina, was handed over to owners over several months commencing early last year, approximately 18 months behind schedule. The project was launched in August 2002.
Despite owners being handed possession of their properties, the several beach clubs, which are to house recreational facilities, including gymnasiums, swimming pools, spas, sports centres, and beach access pathways, have not been completed. In fact construction on them has yet to commence.
A previously built building which was to house a beach club has been occupied by the JBR sales centre. It was recently vacated for refurbishment, but the occupants have been moved to on-site portocabins, suggesting the sales staff will move back into the building when the refurbishment is completed.
Compounding the lifestyle of the project's newly-arrived 25,000 residents is the continual delay in completion of The Walk, a cavalcade of restaurants, cafes, retail shops, and supermarkets, that are being developed around the perimeter of the property. Very few of the outlets are operational, despite The Walk's scheduled delayed opening having been promised for late 2007.
Added to that, four of JBR's forty towers, which will house 5 star international hotels, are still under construction.
The developer of JBR, Dubai Properties, has a real estate portfolio valued at 350 billion dirhams ($95.6 billion), and according to CEO Mohammad Bin Braik, this will double in the next few years.
'What is important to us is that we are creating value for Dubai, not just building towers and projects,' he said this week.
On JBR he said, 'It is one of the largest single complexes with so many apartments. From day one it was not an easy task. However, we have still managed to deliver, with a slight delay due to factors that were not in our hand.'
Owners of Jumeirah Beach residence apartments have received no advice, newsletters, or any communication as to the status of the project's recreational facilities, or The Walk, since they handed over the final instalment of their purchase price, when taking possession of their apartments last year. |
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