News Highlights
- Danube Properties sold out 1,032 homes at Lawnz in International City, including 350 units in four hours.
- Studios at Lawnz started from Dh290,000.
- By March 2018, Danube had delivered 831 homes worth Dh1.12 billion, including 171 townhouses at the Dh500 million Dreamz.
- The developer plans to deliver 880 more units later this year.
- Danube Properties' portfolio exceeds US$1 billion, with 4,744 units across 11 projects.
Dubai, UAE: Danube Properties, a major Dubai developer, announced that its latest project, the Dh550 million Lawnz, sold out in five days from its launch.
Strong Demand in the Low Season
Phase 1, launched on June 20, 2018, just after Ramadan and Eid, drew huge interest from buyers who saw great value in a gated community with luxury facilities and services at prices from Dh290,000.
"The sell-out of the Lawnz in the hot summer months – a very quiet and low season for business – is a live demonstration of the public faith in the Danube brand and the customers' confidence in our ability to deliver quality homes at an affordable price and on time, which is very crucial for the end-users who invest their life savings with us," said Rizwan Sajan, Founder Chairman of Danube Group.
"This is also a strong testimony of the fact that there is no shortage of buyers if the properties are offered at the right location, right price, right payment plan and the right delivery schedule. Our industry trend-setting 1 percent payment per month, which helps the property buyers to move into their homes after paying only around half the price of the property, is a key to the success of our real estate projects.
"This payment plan – the first in the Middle East by a private developer – is an ideal solution for the UAE's middle-income households who were priced out by luxury developments. Danube Properties believes in inclusiveness and sees affordable homes as the future of the real estate market in the UAE."
About Lawnz
Danube's 11th project, Lawnz in International City, comprises 1,032 homes and takes its portfolio to 4,744 units with a development value of more than Dh3.7 billion across 11 projects. Construction was expected to start in 2018 with completion in 2020. It is Danube's first project in International City and its first gated complex.
Located in International City Phase 1, Lawnz offers studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments: 50% studios, 40% one-bedroom and 10% two-bedroom. Amenities include a 3.8-acre promenade with a canal, sunken plaza, fully equipped health club, swimming pool, steam and sauna, multipurpose hall, jogging track, barbecue deck, badminton court, multipurpose court and high-tech security surveillance, as well as a 42-metre-wide entrance and an outdoor cinema. The design maximises living space while delivering the convenience of community living, with 50% of the site dedicated to green open areas and landscaping.
350 Units in Four Hours
Atif Rahman, Director and Partner of Danube Properties, said: "The customer response for the first phase of the project – about half of the total inventory – was amazing and overwhelming. However, the response to the second phase was even better – so much so that we sold 350 units in 4 hours – an industry record!
"One of the key aspects of our sales strategy was to give priority to the end-users and the first-time buyers, who used to view housing as very unaffordable. However, our sales strategy put them at the forefront of our massive marketing campaign by bringing down the price barrier below Dh300,000 for the first time in recent history.
"As a developer, we work for the satisfaction of homeowners – our biggest stakeholders – and it is important to make them feel confident with our properties and our approach. It is exactly what we have done with Lawnz sales and I am glad that we now have a large customer pool who earlier could not think of buying a home in Dubai. Now they have bought their dream homes – from Danube Properties."
Delivery Record
By March 2018, Danube had delivered 831 homes, including 302 units in Glitz Residences 1 and 2, 358 in Glitz Residences 3 and 171 townhouses at Dreamz, with a further 870 due later in the year. It entered Dubai's market in June 2014 with Dreamz at Al Furjan, which sold out at launch. Danube Group, founded in 1993 and the UAE's largest supplier of building materials and home furnishings, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
In 2017, the year it began delivering homes, Danube awarded five construction-related contracts worth more than Dh392 million, including a Dh221 million main contract for Miraclz Tower near Miracle Garden in Arjan, with 599 units including 591 apartments, and a Dh146 million main contract for Resortz, a 17-month contract to have the project ready by Q2 2019. Resortz will have 444 units, including 419 apartments and 25 retail outlets, in a landscaped setting more like a five-star resort than a residential compound.
Of its 11 projects, four have been delivered, two are nearing delivery, four are under construction and one is at tender. With one of the fastest development-to-delivery ratios in a market where timely delivery remains a major challenge, Danube is helping to strengthen buyers' trust in real estate.
Danube Project Development Fact Sheet
| Project | Residential units | Development value | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dreamz | 171 townhouses | Dh500 million | Delivered |
| Glitz Residence I | 151 units | Dh135 million | Delivered |
| Glitz Residence II | 151 units | Dh135 million | Delivered |
| Glitz Residence III | 358 units | Dh350 million | Delivered |
| Starz Tower | 454 units | Dh300 million | Delivery in 2018 |
| Glamz Residence | 426 units | Dh270 million | Delivery in 2018 |
| Miraclz Tower | 599 units | Dh400 million | Under construction |
| Resortz Tower | 444 units | Dh300 million | Under construction |
| Bayz | 463 units | Dh450 million | Tender stage |
| Jewelz | 463 units | Dh300 million | Launched |
| Lawnz | 1,032 units | Dh550 million | Launched |
| Total: 11 projects | 4,744 residential units | Dh3.69 billion | Development/delivery |
About Danube Properties
Danube Properties, part of Danube Group, entered real estate in June 2014 with 171 townhouses worth Dh500 million at Al Furjan, and has since launched Glitz Residence I, II and III, Starz, Glamz, Miraclz, Resortz, Bayz, Jewelz and Lawnz. Its development portfolio comprises 3,680 units worth more than Dh3.14 billion, and it is delivering about 830 units in 2017–18 with a combined sales value of Dh1 billion, a third of its portfolio value.
About Danube Group
Founded in 1993 and led by Founder and Chairman Rizwan Sajan, Danube Group has grown from a small trading firm into the region's leading building materials company, alongside its other businesses. It recorded a turnover of Dh5.14 billion in 2015 and has kept growing, and Rizwan Sajan was ranked 12th in Forbes Middle East's "Top 100 Indian Leaders in the UAE".
The company stocks more than 25,000 products with in-house value-added services across its showrooms in the Middle East and India, and operates from head offices in JAFZA with 5.5 million sq ft of logistics facilities, including a kiln-drying facility, factory and warehouses. It has branches in the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and India, procurement offices in China and Canada, and more than 1,800 staff across the GCC and India.
Its home interiors retail arm, Danube Home, has showrooms in major malls across the region and in India, including on Sheikh Zayed Road, at Dubai Festival City, Bawadi Mall in Al Ain and in Abu Dhabi, with standalone outlets in RAK, Fujairah and Abu Dhabi, five showrooms in Oman (Salalah, Nizwa, Sohar, Barka and Al Khuwair) and one in Salmabad, Bahrain.
