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DARING TO DREAM
In April 2010, Kleindienst Group was awarded the first trade licence for business operations on The World to develop its Heart of Europe project, which encompasses the islands of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, The Neth- erlands, St Petersburg and Sweden. Kleindienst Group’s grand master plan has a built-up area of 390,200 square metres with the largest island representing ‘Sweden’ – the only section accessible to the general public. In a liberal interpretation of the map of Europe, the island of Sweden will also contain zones dedicated to Belgium, Geneva, Luxembourg, Monte Carlo, Poland and the Russian city of Sochi, the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Due for completion in 2015, the island will also offer entertainment options in the form of multiple restaurants
and bars, and Kleindienst hopes that it will become a major attraction for Dubai. He adds: “Just as tourists take trips to visit the desert, the Gold Souk and the Dubai Mall, we hope they will visit Sweden island for a day.” He explains that the retail outlets on Sweden will be dif-
ferent from the ubiquitous chains in the city’s mega malls. “The malls in Dubai have the same fashion brands, the same jewellers, etc. But in Europe there are many shops that are owned by entrepreneurs that have their own style. This European style of retail never made it to Dubai, but we want to introduce it to the island of Sweden.” The first island due for delivery is ‘Germany’ which will
contain just 20 luxurious villas in a built-up area of 8,360 square metres. “Germany is the only island with no com- mercial activities – the other islands will contain boutique hotels and villas. There will be 75 villas in total within the Heart of Europe,” adds Kleindienst.
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Germany’s über-sleek villas, designed
Josef Kleindienst
1 /3 Villa, island of Germany 2 The World islands
by Spanish architectural practice A-cero, contain three, four or five bedrooms on plots of between 557 and 3,716 square metres. When asked whether the architecture reflects the various countries, Kleindienst hesitates and replies: “As far as possible”. He continues: “The style of our German villas can be seen in Germany, but you also find it in France, the UK, Canada, etc. We could not come up with an architecture style that is distinctly German. When people think of Germany they usually think of cars and technology. So building technology is important – our villas will have solar systems and the materials are of the highest German standards.” He adds the architecture on some of the other island is more representative of the countries. “The Austria
hotel and the St Petersburg hotel will have very strong architectural links to these destinations. Sweden will be dominated by a Scandinavian architectural style but – as the island contains other destinations such as Belgium and Luxembourg – it will be enriched with many architectural styles.” The villas are specifically built to serve as holiday homes for international visitors, primarily from Europe.
Kleindienst reveals that Germany is a key market and adds: “Around 60,000 Germans purchase a new holiday home every year. Most of these are Mediterranean summer homes, but the majority of winter houses are in Florida – roughly 200,000 Germans own holiday homes there. “But now they are looking at Dubai. Rich Germans are used to high standards and they didn’t like the high level
of construction work in recent years. Now that many projects have been completed they appreciate Dubai’s quality standards, and we are seeing more and more people interested in moving away from Florida and pur- chasing here; Dubai is closer to Germany and it’s a safe place.” He believes that there is a wide gap in the Dubai market for second homes. “A tourist destination always
has hotels and holiday homes. In Dubai there are no holiday homes in dedicated areas – they are always in residential areas such as on the Palm Jumeirah or in Dubai Marina. Tourist areas should have their own space, just like free zones and logistics areas. Customers from all over the world want to own holiday or weekend homes – this market will be a strong driver for the Dubai real estate industry in the next couple of years.”➔
jun-sep 2010
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