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Burj Khalifah: Vanity or a Necessity?

Just got back to Dubai after a long absence, and I found the city abuzz with the opening of the Burj.

While passing by this spear in the sky this morning, I kept thinking of whether it was really worth its huge cost.

I also thought of how safe it would be during big fires. Can the fire department put out the fire and rescue everyone in time before they get “barbecued!!??”

I certainly would not want to live on, for example the 140th floor, when a fire breaks out in that building!! As we know, all elevators are shut off during any fires.

Any thoughts??

personally i dont like how it looks. it looks like an evil castle you will find in some story books

did dubai really need it?

it has all the palms all the shopping centers etc etc i would say no.

and i agree with the fire department thing that should be interesting should it happen

In fact i think instead of having this, they should have spent on a Ferry system which would link dubai with all the other states.

Tom Jones wrote:Burj Dubai: Vanity or a Necessity?

Just got back to Dubai after a long absence, and I found the city abuzz with the opening of the Burj.

While passing by this spear in the sky this morning, I kept thinking of whether it was really worth its huge cost.

I also thought of how safe it would be during big fires. Can the fire department put out the fire and rescue everyone in time before they get “barbecued!!??”

I certainly would not want to live on, for example the 140th floor, when a fire breaks out in that building!! As we know, all elevators are shut off during any fires.

Any thoughts??

It's as safe as a tower building can be, their are state of the art fire protection and life safety systems in place. I also would not like to live in such a building but hey, I like my car you probably don't. The residential apartments were sold out long ago and I believe all of the office space has been leased. You also have to understand that this is a commercial building at the end of the day and Emaar have certainly made a profit from it.

rhetorical question .. who would need an 800+ mtr steel tower... wonder what the objective is ... fastest lift ... highest swimming pool... get a life !!..
That said enuff respect to all those workers and engineers who have made it possible ..They are the ones who deserve the applause for the feat.
Wonder what Rapunzel would say if she saw this tower .... hmmm

Well....it most certainly is an engineering marvel and probably the knowledge and insight gained from constructing this tower is well priceless. So kudos on that front. Now I'm no architect or civil engineer so ideally they should be the ones commenting.

Cost- well Sage seems to think it's an out n out profit. I think it's a lil too early in the day to draw conclusions. So at this point I guess it's best to sit back and enjoy this marvel. But I'm sure this isn't gonna be an overnight profit as Sage seems to suggest , breaking even will take much more time.

Tourism- No denying it adds to the appeal not just of Dubai but to the UAE as a whole. The fountains, the observatory, and if marketed well enough the Burj could be the ultimate status symbol.So yea there seems to be pros on that front.

Vanity is when they go ahead and top Burj Dubai with something bigger.
The Burj Dubai is certainly ambitious and for that power to the establishment.

That said this is only the beginning, long run sustainability and effective management will determine as to weather this a success or not.

sage & onion wrote:
It's as safe as a tower building can be, their are state of the art fire protection and life safety systems in place. I also would not like to live in such a building but hey, I like my car you probably don't. The residential apartments were sold out long ago and I believe all of the office space has been leased. You also have to understand that this is a commercial building at the end of the day and Emaar have certainly made a profit from it.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-0 ... ate2-.html

Well if this has to be profitable, by my own estimates each floor will have to bring in revenue in excess of 80 million dollars. If one observes the current rates, that figure is far off. Besides do not forget to account for inflation and cost of debt as well.
So profits on this project may take time, but no denying it's iconic stature and along with the metro, those two definitely have the potential to stimulate the economy and inspire confidence once again into the real estate market.

sage & onion wrote:

Tom Jones wrote:Burj Dubai: Vanity or a Necessity?

Just got back to Dubai after a long absence, and I found the city abuzz with the opening of the Burj.

While passing by this spear in the sky this morning, I kept thinking of whether it was really worth its huge cost.

I also thought of how safe it would be during big fires. Can the fire department put out the fire and rescue everyone in time before they get “barbecued!!??”

I certainly would not want to live on, for example the 140th floor, when a fire breaks out in that building!! As we know, all elevators are shut off during any fires.

Any thoughts??

It's as safe as a tower building can be, their are state of the art fire protection and life safety systems in place. I also would not like to live in such a building but hey, I like my car you probably don't. The residential apartments were sold out long ago and I believe all of the office space has been leased. You also have to understand that this is a commercial building at the end of the day and Emaar have certainly made a profit from it.

The Burj Dubai (now named Burj Khalifah) may have been profitable for Emmar, but it may not be profitable for Dubai. Remember that most of the units were sold before the current economic crisis, and now they are worth less than half the purchase prices. Not just that, most of the units were sold with mortgage financing thru local banks, so we could see some defaults by purchasers who bought the units for investment purposes (lease or re-sale opportunities.)

Leasing the residential units and office space would be difficult in this depressed environment. I assume only a few individuals and commercial businesses would be willing to pay the high premium lease rates, in order to be at this prestigious address. The annual maintenance fees alone at the Burj are said to be around Dhs 80-90 per square foot.!!!

But time will tell. We'll wait and see!!

Misery Called Life wrote:

sage & onion wrote:
It's as safe as a tower building can be, their are state of the art fire protection and life safety systems in place. I also would not like to live in such a building but hey, I like my car you probably don't. The residential apartments were sold out long ago and I believe all of the office space has been leased. You also have to understand that this is a commercial building at the end of the day and Emaar have certainly made a profit from it.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-0 ... ate2-.html

Well if this has to be profitable, by my own estimates each floor will have to bring in revenue in excess of 80 million dollars. If one observes the current rates, that figure is far off. Besides do not forget to account for inflation and cost of debt as well.
So profits on this project may take time, but no denying it's iconic stature and along with the metro, those two definitely have the potential to stimulate the economy and inspire confidence once again into the real estate market.

Good point MCL!

safe tower .... built by super engineers but put together by unskilled labour.. I wouldnt be too sure .. And as for state of the art fire protection ... ie the ingenious refuge room .. what a great idea... when the fires burning lets just sit inside in a heat resistant room till the cavalry arrives.. One room every thirty floors they have and I hope the fire truck have ladders that can reach the 160th floor !!
The amount of steel, concrete, money, time and effort into building this would all have been better used building homes for the homeless or rebuilding any of the war torn countries off late ... But what the hell we have the worlds highest swimming pool and the fastest lift.. so I guess its all worth it !!
Profit .. I doubt it ... steel and construction costs were still up when work was going on .. too many factors to deduce an accurate answer

We like to take the lead for you to follow...

uaekid wrote:We like to take the lead for you to follow...

We have a new service in Dubai;

The DB Brigade

the next thing they'll question is "why Dubai's sky BLUE

uaekid wrote:the next thing they'll question is "why Dubai's sky BLUE

Mmmmm, and why is that?

I think its awesome. Just shows how far mankind has come in engineering and developement. Not sure if it will last as long as the great pyramids though? At one time our CN tower in Canada was the tallest. Its been beat for height many times now though.

It's a an awesome structure, no doubt. I love that it's here and that it represents the UAE and greater, the prosperity of teh Middle East. But my question is...

Hey UAEkid, what do you take the lead in? driving? tallest building ever? What else?
What is the UAE the BEST, BRIGHTEST, MOST PROGRESSIVE in? Really?
Why make a statement like that? Because you found enough oil under your own land to buy?
What do you lead in, really?

well for profits I dunno, I however can give some info into figures as I did dabble in real estate here for a while before it went bust. I recieved a floor from burj dubai ( can't say which one which one though for privacy reasons ) It was one of the smaller floors as you all know it gets narrower and it goes higher. This floor had only a few studios a two bed and one one bed as far as I remember. So yes it was pretty highhh up there. total floor space is just a niggle over 15,300 sqft.

I still have all the details in my email The Orginal price was 49.1 something million as sold by emaar to 1st owner and by the time it reached me it was going for 60 something. Within months it went up to over 120 million Dhs ! And people were falling over them selves to buy this !

And should have been 100% paid by dec 2008

So I think Emaar did pretty well unless there were massive massive payment defaults from owners ?

desertdudeshj wrote:well for profits I dunno, I however can give some info into figures as I did dabble in real estate here for a while before it went bust. I recieved a floor from burj dubai ( can't say which one which one though for privacy reasons ) It was one of the smaller floors as you all know it gets narrower and it goes higher. This floor had only a few studios a two bed and one one bed as far as I remember. So yes it was pretty highhh up there. total floor space is just a niggle over 15,300 sqft.

I still have all the details in my email The Orginal price was 49.1 something million as sold by emaar to 1st owner and by the time it reached me it was going for 60 something. Within months it went up to over 120 million Dhs ! And people were falling over them selves to buy this !

And should have been 100% paid by dec 2008

So I think Emaar did pretty well unless there were massive massive payment defaults from owners ?

15300 sq ft is the entire floor. Now according to the estimate by the developer itself the tower cost around 1.4 bill dollars to build. Now if an entire floor is selling for 49.1 mill dhs then how does one break even? The math does not equate. (Unofficial estimates quote it at way higher, but I think 1.4 bill is pretty accurate)

And how come you so certain the quoted amount was paid in full?

And what if it was a mortgage, a loan?

But ye know I think micro perspective is the wrong way to look at this. I mean if this project along with the metro rejuvenates the real estate sector, than the gains will be humongous. Watsay?

Misery Called Life wrote:

desertdudeshj wrote:well for profits I dunno, I however can give some info into figures as I did dabble in real estate here for a while before it went bust. I recieved a floor from burj dubai ( can't say which one which one though for privacy reasons ) It was one of the smaller floors as you all know it gets narrower and it goes higher. This floor had only a few studios a two bed and one one bed as far as I remember. So yes it was pretty highhh up there. total floor space is just a niggle over 15,300 sqft.

I still have all the details in my email The Orginal price was 49.1 something million as sold by emaar to 1st owner and by the time it reached me it was going for 60 something. Within months it went up to over 120 million Dhs ! And people were falling over them selves to buy this !

And should have been 100% paid by dec 2008

So I think Emaar did pretty well unless there were massive massive payment defaults from owners ?

15300 sq ft is the entire floor. Now according to the estimate by the developer itself the tower cost around 1.4 bill dollars to build. Now if an entire floor is selling for 49.1 mill dhs then how does one break even? The math does not equate. (Unofficial estimates quote it at way higher, but I think 1.4 bill is pretty accurate)

And how come you so certain the quoted amount was paid in full?

And what if it was a mortgage, a loan?

But ye know I think micro perspective is the wrong way to look at this. I mean if this project along with the metro rejuvenates the real estate sector, than the gains will be humongous. Watsay?

Don't you think that such a company did conceder all the above before building it ?.

While it wasnt a necessity, its a great idea to brand the UAE.

Amidst all the positives and negatives i encountererd in a trip to malaysia, the main image I have in my mind to date is that of the fully lit Petronas towers.

The Burj will play a similar role.
It would be great if on national day and new years every year, the Burj sees fireworks next to it with the tower fully lit

Yes MCL its the entire floor and one of the smaller ones and residential not the fancy commercial armani ones which went for a lot more

I like the look of it. Very Iconic etc. But is it functional? The safety aspect is a good question.
I personally would not like to live there, but then I am not turned on by ostentatious status symbols

desertdudeshj wrote:well for profits I dunno, I however can give some info into figures as I did dabble in real estate here for a while before it went bust. I recieved a floor from burj dubai ( can't say which one which one though for privacy reasons ) It was one of the smaller floors as you all know it gets narrower and it goes higher. This floor had only a few studios a two bed and one one bed as far as I remember. So yes it was pretty highhh up there. total floor space is just a niggle over 15,300 sqft.

I still have all the details in my email The Orginal price was 49.1 something million as sold by emaar to 1st owner and by the time it reached me it was going for 60 something. Within months it went up to over 120 million Dhs ! And people were falling over them selves to buy this !

And should have been 100% paid by dec 2008

So I think Emaar did pretty well unless there were massive massive payment defaults from owners ?

15,300 sq. ft!!

Is that with or without the common areas??

It means that the AED 120 mil (paid for that floor) comes to, at least, AED 8,000 PSF.

I even heard of higher selling figures for residential units (about AED 10,000 PSF!)

Well…anyway you look at these figures, they are all still truly amazing figurers!

DD, it is reported that the prices went down by more than ½, but do you know for sure what the units on that floor (or a similar floor) are actually selling for these days???

Remember that there might be, now, a little (short-lived) spike in prices -- right after the fanfare opening!!

This was a whole floor deal, individual units would be more. I have no after or current info