SIGNIFICANT progress has been made on Park Lane Tower, one of KM Properties’ iconic developments in Business Bay. The project has reached level 20, with core wall construction from the 19th to 20th level currently in progress. First fix of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) works is also under way.

KM Properties’ official construction contractor Al Rostamani Pegel is now mobilising for the mock-up works for the common and public areas.
The 150-m-tall building has been designed by Carlos Ott, who is known for his numerous landmark works including the National Bank of Dubai in the UAE, the Simcoe Place in Canada, the L’Opera de la Bastille in France and the Antel Telecommunications in Uruguay.
The building will feature a combination of offices, boutiques and a five-star hotel – the Tamani Hotel. The hotel comprises 200 rooms, two swimming pools, restaurants and separate spas for women and men.
According to KM Properties’ group chief executive officer Sanjeet Joher, this is the second property in Dubai to have a hotel starting from the 20th floor.

“The hotel will comprise 34 floors of modern accommodation and recreation facilities, offering occupants panoramic views of the city. This sculptural masterpiece serves as an elegant new beacon for luxurious sophistication and ultimate efficiency,” he comments.
Apart from this project, KM Properties is working on two other projects located in Business Bay, namely the B2B Office Tower and Tamani Arts Offices.
“B2B Office Tower is a five-star commercial tower with three podiums and 19 storeys of business facilities, where tenants can enjoy panoramic views of the city’s main boulevards and the serene Ras Al Khor Creek of the Business Bay,” says Joher.
Construction work is progressing from basement level two to one with core walls and columns having been completed. Slab formwork and retaining wall works are under way, according to Al Rostamani Pegel.
Meanwhile, construction work has been completed on slab concreting works for basement one of the Tamani Arts Offices. Currently, work on the columns, core wall, retaining walls and slab form from basement one to ground floor is being carried out.

“Tamani Arts Offices is a sophisticated business tower – definitely a world-class design from Terry Farell and Partners from the UK. The full glass-and-aluminium structure is part of the Artisan Cluster, strategically located in the heart of Business Bay, Dubai’s newest commercial district, where leading multinational and local companies converge,” Joher says.
Commenting on the Business Bay developments, he says: “Considering the property scenario, I believe that the infrastructure works in the Business Bay will take two more years to complete. By that time, we would have completed our projects.
“Park Lane Tower, being in Phase One, will be complete much faster. The way I see it, construction in this area will be faster once the infrastructure works in Business Bay is in its final stages.

“Our main focus for this year is to ensure that construction goes on as scheduled. We are making sure that the construction of all our projects achieves the set milestones. The infrastructure in Business Bay is being built in phases. The chillers and the electricity and water networks will fall in place and be finished at the same time as the handover of our projects.”
KM Properties is not expecting to match the growth level it experienced during 2007 and 2008. “We acknowledge that the Dubai property market has slowed down considerably but we still believe that certain emerging trends will help put the UAE property market back on track.
“We have set realistic goals and aim to be more adaptive to the environment. Properties, I believe, will be delivered in a staggered manner, ensuring that the market is also more receptive to them,” he says.

According to Joher, the main challenges posed by the current economic scenario are financing and liquidity with end-users and customers finding it difficult to buy properties through financing institutions due to the local and global liquidity crunch,
“We are aware of the difficulty that our clients have been facing especially during this time. Hence, we have extended our assistance to our clients by offering different solutions. We are among the few developers that have been keeping in touch with our customers, calling each one of them and helping them assess their current situation.
“In addition, since last year, we have exerted extra efforts in pushing our rental division KM Rent. We have launched a user-friendly web portal that provides completed properties to everyone and in the past nine months, we have rented out 500 properties, roughly around 55 to 60 properties a month. This month alone, we have reached 99 per cent occupancy in all our property inventories. We are also in touch with other property owners and are assisting them in renting out their units,” he says.
“Currently, the market is at the correction stage and new laws and regulations have been put in place to ensure that the property market stabilises. Property developers are now awaiting the release of the new strata law and we, as developers, are expecting this to help improve the property market as this will assist in building customer confidence,” he concludes.