Dubai based Danube Group Readies For Exponential Growth

The Dubai government's efforts to create a business-friendly environment for global investors, has been lauded by the founder and chairman of the Dubai-based Danube Group.
 
Hailing Dubai as the 'best global investment destination' presently, he further stated that the socio-economic stability of the UAE and Dubai's excellent infrastructure were the key factors responsible for transforming Dubai into the leading regional hub for global players across the commercial, financial, logistics and services domain.

By following a visionary path of enabling companies to spread their wings in the MENA region and elsewhere, Dubai today enjoys the unique privilege of being the headquarters of several leading global companies and conglomerates.

Elaborating on the importance of the GCC markets for his company, the Danube chairman further revealed that his company had invested approx AED300mn in the Saudi market alone. The company which has a presence there since the last five years, currently has five building stores and one retail store.
As part of its ongoing plans, Danube also plans to open a sales office in KSA later this month (May 2016) to meet the surging demand for Dubai properties from Saudi investors. As per data from the Dubai Department of Tourism, an estimated 295,000 Saudi tourists explored Dubai in the first two months of this year. KSA is only the second country to host the company's sales office after India.

Danube's AED 1.8bn real estate portfolio which includes - Dreamz, Glitz Residence 1, Glitz Residence 2, Glitz Residence 3, Ritz Tower by Danube and their latest announcement - Glamz -  feature innovative and unique concepts.

Dreamz by Danube is a AED-500mn project at Al Furjan featuring 171 contemporary-styled townhouses while Glitz 1 & 2 at Dubai Studio City offer 302 luxury apartments from compact studio units to spacious 3BHK apartments.

The AED-350mn Glitz Residence 3 consists of 352 apartments and includes studio units, 1&2BHK units. The project is slated completion by end-2017. Ritz Tower (earlier called StarzTower), Danube's Dh300-mn residential development at Al Furjan is completely sold-out with all its 454 units finding buyers within weeks of its launch.

While Dreamz is well on schedule for handover later this year, Glitz 1, 2 & 3 and Ritz are all ahead of schedule by atleast 3-4 months.

The company has been able to avoid any delays in its projects, courtesy the support provided by its core business of building materials. This has enabled project contractors to source the best quality building materials on time, more importantly at the lowest costs possible. This in turn has allowed the company to lower project costs significantly and deliver projects at affordable prices.

As an added incentive for buyers interested in their ongoing projects, Danube has announced a flexible payment plan for the benefit of investors and end users which entails a 10% down payment, 15% in the next  60-days and the balance payable in 75 EMIs of 1% each, sans interest.

The highlight of this payment plan is that buyers are required to pay only 52% of the cost till possession and the balance spread across 4 years, making it an attractive proposition for realty investors from the region and outside. Buyers of Danube projects in Al Furjan and Discovery Gardens also have the option of earning 10% returns on their investment by renting their property, courtesy the 1% payment plan without any interest.

To cite an example, if a buyer has invested between AED 450,000-500,000 in a studio unit at Danube's Al Furjan projects located near the metro line in close proximity to the Dubai Expo 2020 location, he can earn a RoI of approx AED 50,000 p.a, which is approx 10% of his total investment (AED 500,000).

Going forward the Danube group has outlined a strong expansion in the GCC markets over the next two years. This includes an investment of approx AED120-mn in Oman to set up four new retail stores in cities like Nizwa, Mabela, Salalah and Sohar by early next year.

Danube also plans to invest approx AED50mn in Qatar to launch their first retail store there by early-2017. The group also has a strong presence in Bahrain with a store for building materials and a retail outlet at a total investment of approx AED200mn.
 
To further strengthen their presence in the UAE, the headquarters of their global operations, the group has earmarked an estimated investment of AED50mn, to set up two new retail stores here later this year.