Hospitality industry research firm STR Global recently published its Construction Pipeline Report, and noted that of the 120,795 rooms under construction in the Gulf region, 10,391 are in Dubai. According to?Construction Week Online, other markets with more than 1,000 hotel rooms under development are Riyadh (5,598 rooms), Abu Dhabi (3,727), Jeddah (2,313), Cairo (1,744) and Amman (1,547).
The totals include rooms that are already under construction or under development, but does not include those in pre-planning stage.
The new Oberoi Hotel in Business Bay was the only hotel completed in Dubai during the quarter, but others?including the Conrad Sheikh Zayed Road, Novotel Al Barsha and Anantara Royal Amwaj?are all set to open by the end of the year. The Sofitel Palm Jumeirah has just opened, and?Hotelier Middle East?is reporting that Dubai-based developer Seven Tides has seen “an increasing level of interest” from GCC investors in the first phase of the Anantara Residences Dubai development. The property, which will be located on the Palm Jumeirah as part of the new Anantara Dubai The Palm Resort & Spa devlopment, features 442 one and two-bedroom furnished apartments and 14 three-bedroom penthouses.
Seven Tides CEO Abdulla Bin Sulayem told the website that the interest was not surprising: ?The Dubai real estate market is buoyant; apartment sales prices have grown by 27 percent year to date, and by 12 percent in the first quarter of this year alone.?
The development of supply seems commiserate with demand: In its Dubai Real Estate Market Overview for the second quarter of the year,?Jones Lang Lasalle?found that year-to-date occupancy rates had reached 85 percent, while average daily rates are hovering around $267.
Upcoming hotel developments include the first Wyndham property in the Dubai Marina, the Viceroy Resort on the “trunk” of the Palm Jumeirah and the Taj Arabia project in Dubailand.