“Overlooking the Marina, the sea or the cityscape, the Residences at Marina Gate is one of the last available locations on the waterfront at Dubai Marina,” reads the developer’s website blurb.
And don’t I know it. My current apartment is at the moment occupying the same position of “one of the last available locations” in the very popular and successful marina development, with a view of the Emirates Hills golf course on one side, the full length of the marina to the front, and the Gulf prominently visible to the right. It must be one of the best views in Dubai.
However, when Marina Gate goes up, my 44th-floor balcony will be eye level with the on-roof air-conditioning apparatus of the new development. Gulf and marina views will be blotted out by what the developer, Select Group, calls “unique investment opportunities”.
For the past five years, everybody in my apartment block has been wondering what would eventually be built on the empty sandy space directly in front of the building. It was variously a parking lot, a dog-walking area, and a place where people used to try out remote-controlled mini-drones and other flying gadgets.
It was also, when the sea seeped through the Marina foundation wall a couple of years back, surely the biggest outdoor swimming pool in the world.
While the effects of the financial crisis endured, we were all reassured that nothing would go up there in the immediate future, but - in what must be the final physical confirmation that the Dubai property market is back - those days are gone.
Work began a couple of weeks ago on the ground preparation, and it can’t be long before the pile-drivers are at it 24-hours a day.
Three towers of about 43 stories each are planned by Select, and though they are called “Residences” the billboard on the site itself makes clear they will be mixed use: maybe another hotel to go alongside the Marriott just over the road; maybe another medium-sized mall like Marina Mall; perhaps a supermarket and other retail outlets, like the nearby Spinney’s.
I’m the last one to stand in the way of progress, but Marina Gate looks like the final straw to me. We’ve already endured the construction of the Dubai tram system for the past year. This, thankfully, is drawing to an end, with the project nearing completion sometime later this year.
I was looking forward to using the tram, and the end of the construction site that accompanied it, but now I don’t think I will get a chance. The congestion and inconvenience the Gate will cause mean it’s time we moved on.
The Dubai International Financial Centre is a forlorn place these days. The temperatures and humidity mean the wide-open terrace spaces around the Gate building have been virtually abandoned.
The chic shisha area alongside Al Mandaloun restaurant - usually thronged by smokers and coffee drinkers all day and well into the night - has been left fallow, it seems. You can draw pictures in the sand-dust on the uncovered glass tables; I’m sure I spotted a patch of grass growing up between the paving stones and a lone tumbleweed blowing along beside Cafe Bateel the other day.
But all is not as deserted as it seems. Like nocturnal creatures bound by daylight, the denizens of the DIFC have simply adapted to the scorching outside heat by living underground.
The food court area is still pretty busy, despite the fact many people are away in August. There is a sense of anticipation in the air that the next few months - which witness the DIFC’s 10th anniversary - will be the busiest in its history.
fkane@thenational.ae
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
SM Town Live is on Friday, April 6 at Autism Rocks Arena, Dubai. Tickets are Dh375 at www.platinumlist.net
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder
Transmission: 7-speed auto
0-100kmh 2.3 seconds
0-200kmh 5.5 seconds
0-300kmh 11.6 seconds
Power: 1500hp
Torque: 1600Nm
Price: Dh13,400,000
On sale: now
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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'Joker'
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix
Rating: Five out of five stars
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Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
Most wanted allegations
- Benjamin Macann, 32: involvement in cocaine smuggling gang.
- Jack Mayle, 30: sold drugs from a phone line called the Flavour Quest.
- Callum Halpin, 27: over the 2018 murder of a rival drug dealer.
- Asim Naveed, 29: accused of being the leader of a gang that imported cocaine.
- Calvin Parris, 32: accused of buying cocaine from Naveed and selling it on.
- John James Jones, 31: allegedly stabbed two people causing serious injuries.
- Callum Michael Allan, 23: alleged drug dealing and assaulting an emergency worker.
- Dean Garforth, 29: part of a crime gang that sold drugs and guns.
- Joshua Dillon Hendry, 30: accused of trafficking heroin and crack cocain.
- Mark Francis Roberts, 28: grievous bodily harm after a bungled attempt to steal a £60,000 watch.
- James ‘Jamie’ Stevenson, 56: for arson and over the seizure of a tonne of cocaine.
- Nana Oppong, 41: shot a man eight times in a suspected gangland reprisal attack.
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Bugatti Chiron Super Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,600hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.4seconds
0-200kph in 5.8 seconds
0-300kph in 12.1 seconds
Top speed: 440kph
Price: Dh13,200,000
Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,500hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.3 seconds
0-200kph in 5.5 seconds
0-300kph in 11.8 seconds
Top speed: 350kph
Price: Dh13,600,000
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
The%20Specs%20
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