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Spanish technology will convert part of the living room into a bedroom at night – offering greater convenience to homeowners to accommodate guests and ensure more living space – converting part of the living room to a bedroom – with less investment
Date: Dubai, December 28, 2015
Danube Group launches new game-changing home solution that expands living space at night within the Dh300 million Ritz project
Announcement
- Launch of a new living concept that converts part of the living room into a bedroom at night and turns a one-dedroom apartment in to two-bedroom flat at night
- The Spanish technology offers greater living experience with less space
- The Dh300 million Ritz offers fully-furnished 450 apartments including 180 studios, 135 one-bedroom and 135 two bedroom apartments
- Prices of studio starts with Dh430,000 with furniture
- Danube’s innovative ‘One per cent’ monthly payment without any interest will help the tenants to get converted into home- owners
Danube Group, a Dubai-based diversified conglomerate with interests in real estate, building materials and interior products, has unveiled a new living concept that creates more life space – by turning one bedroom into two at night – within a limited household and offers greater comfort and convenience to upwardly mobile families.
The new technology-enabled home solution will be part of Danube Properties’ new project – the Ritz – a Dh300 million new development being planned in Al Furjan neighbourhood in Jebel Ali area of Dubai that is in close proximity to Dubai South, the Dh120 billion 140-square kilometre mixed-use development, that will host Al Maktoum International Airport and the World Expo 2020.
Danube has partnered with a Spanish home technology solutions provider that will install a sofa-cum-bed in the living room with the bed tucked into the wall as part of the interior home décor with a sofa set. The bed, when released from the wall, gradually falls on the ground as a bed, ready to sleep in. Additionally, the collapsible doors provide quick and easy space division for privacy.
The unit comes as part of a fully-furnished home offering – the Ritz – by Danube Properties which is bundling out the solutions for as low as Dh430,000 for a studio flat with a one-per cent monthly payment plan that is convenient to the end-users. The 1% payment plan allows buyers to only pay 52% of the total value before the possession and the rest 48% will be paid in convenient EMIs.
“We are bringing the latest home technology to our customers at a time when consumers are looking for more with less – something that we have been doing for sometimes with our Glitz project,” Rizwan Sajan, Founder and Chairman of Danube Group, said while launching the project. “This takes our famous ‘One per cent monthly payment’ concept to the next level where we are doubling our offer with the same one per cent payment.
“Besides, our fully-furnished package deal that comes with the home – reduces the extra burden of looking for matching furniture and amenities. With this, we are offering a ‘one-stop’ home services so that the home owner can walk in to the new home to use everything straight away.”
The Ritz is Danube Properties third major project after Dreamz and the Glitz trio – and takes the total value of the group’s real estate portfolio to Dh1.5 billion. Ritz offers 450 apartments including 180 studios, 135 one-bedroom and 135 two-bedrooms with built-in modular kitchen, furniture and complete bathroom fittings by Milano – Danube’s Italian bath solutions.
In addition to these, Ritz homes come with health club, sauna, jacuzzi, tennis court, car parking, basketball court, badminton court, paddle tennis court, swimming pool, health club, jogging track and party hall
“The new home solution will appeal to new couples and small families who are on the move and wants a cozy, ready-made home with fitted in furniture and amenities as well as give them enough space to entertain and host guests and friends over the weekend. Since we can’t expand the space at home, we found a better way to utilise it by the use of innovative technology,” Sajan adds.
“The move reflects our focus on the end-users and their comfort as well as comes as a fitting tribute to the ‘Year of Innovation’ where the UAE’s leadership is looking at stimulating innovation and technology to fuel the country’s economic growth as we move forward.”
Danube, which started in 1993 as a building materials supplier, has transformed itself into a large corporation offering 25,000 types of building materials, interiors and home solution products. In 2013, the company ventured into real estate as it completed two decades of business.
Danube Properties’ new launch comes amid a softening of the luxury property market in Dubai, which will add 1 million people in the next five years to its population of 2.4 million. The move reflects a company culture to defy the odds and expand business when others wait and see.
“Real estate is a long term business and I am a firm believer of the long-term sustainability of Dubai’s economy which is very resilient,” explains Rizwan Sajan on the timing of the property launch. “Besides, a moderate approach to Dubai’s economic and demographic expansion shows that the emirate will need 18,000 new homes per year for the next five years to accommodate the 1 million new consumers, all of whom will need accommodation.
“The current supply of 12,000-13,000 per annum falls well below the anticipated demand. Besides, more than 80 per cent of Dubai’s population live in rented homes – many of whom can afford to buy properties to live or rent out. With property prices coming down to a more realistic level that are becoming attractive to the end-users, we see the possibility of a large-scale migration to home ownership, from rental homes.
“We believe, our new offerings will stimulate families with a household incomes of Dh15,000-25,000 to buy homes as opposed to stay in rented apartments and insulate themselves from the rent-related inflation that might eat into their savings by the time Expo 2020 rush creeps in.”
With Dubai’s property prices remaining lower compared to global hub cities such as London, Mumbai, Singapore and Hong Kong, the new low-price environment offers a great opportunity for consumers to benefit from not only the asset but the price appreciation of the asset when delivered.
“The current economic environment offers perhaps the best opportunity for home buyers as well as investors,” Sajan explains. “First, the home buyers will be able to save them from the increased high rent in Dubai that will affect their savings. Besides, the apartment will command higher value and rent – in case the home-owner wants to sell or rent out. Either way, you are guaranteed higher returns.”
Dubai offers one of the highest rental yields of 8-10 per cent in the worst case scenario. In most cases, the value addition leads to a rental yield of around 10-12 per cent – which means an end-user spends 10-12 per cent of the home price in yearly rent.
“If the rents are converted into monthly or yearly instalments to pay for the homes, most Dubai’s residents will be able to own a home in Dubai,” Sajan says.
About Danube Group
Established in 1993, Danube Building Materials FZCO provides more than 25,000 products in stock and in-house value added services in all of its multiple set of showrooms across the Middle East region and India. The company operates from its head offices in JAFZA with logistics facilities across the region which amounts to 5 million sq. feet and includes kiln drying facility, factory and warehouses of the group.
From a small trading firm, Danube has grown into one of the largest building materials company in the region, with its diversified branches worldwide including UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and India, in addition to procurement offices in China and Canada.
Danube has a team of 1,800 plus people working across strategic locations across the GCC and India.
