Posted on 11/26/2009 8:16:18 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
November 26, 2009
Dubai World and properties built on sand
David Wighton: Business Editor’s commentary
The world’s tallest building will open in Dubai in just five weeks’ time and visitors to its observation deck on the 124th floor will be able to look down on the half-finished buildings and empty construction sites that now litter the Gulf emirate.
Dubai’s once-booming economy has deflated and its property sector, with its ludicrous architecture and record-breaking buildings, has collapsed. An estimated 400 projects worth more than $300 billion (£180 billion) have been cancelled, shut down or are on a go-slow as developers try to cope with property prices that are down as much as 60 per cent.
Long-term residents and even the Government of Dubai have often seemed to be in denial about the seriousness of the situation but it was rammed home yesterday when Dubai World, the state-owned conglomerate, said that it was seeking a six-month standstill on its debts.
The group includes Nakheel, the property developer responsible for the huge Palm Jumeirah and The World developments built on reclaimed land off the coast. Dubai World’s $60 billion of liabilities represents nearly three quarters of the emirate’s total state debt and the possibility that the company might be struggling to meet its obligations shocked credit markets.
(Excerpt) Read more at business.timesonline.co.uk ...
Ping!
Building on sand is never a good idea.
Much better to build on the solid rock.
A Burj to nowhere.
Very good!
Related
Trouble with UK already hmmm
http://www.businessinsider.com/glitch-creates-havoc-at-london-stock-exchange-2009-11
Financial crisis or not, this development was doomed from the start.
The curse of the world’s tallest building strikes again! It seems that building the tallest edifice brings the wrath of God to any Babel-icious city!
Those artificial islands they created were engineering marvels but I thought at the time why do it? Once they stop dredging, the ocean will take back what they created.
Dubai is now the HQ for the Nigerian scam. New twist you can even open a bank account online there.
I agree. I remember those Irish guys who wanted to build a replica of the Emerald Isle on the Ireland island when this project was featured on the Discovery Channel. What a bunch of nimrods. Do you think the equatorial temperatures might have been tough on the sheep?
That’s actually pretty interesting.
I’ve heard people say that this is because of tall buildings getting finished around the end of the growth cycle ...
Perhaps it also says something about real estate bubbles ?
I have some English that visited Dubai on an almost free tour, their comments were hot and weird. They saw hundreds of empty houses and condos, their hotel appeared to be only a fourth full. There were far more service personnel than guests everywhere.
Did not recommend it.
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