From castles and waterfront mansions to Rolls Royce fleets or private jets, $34 million can buy a lot. V Dubai, but this dizzying amount is enough for a piece of land. Literally.

Recently, an unknown buyer paid $34 million to Umar Kamani, a British entrepreneur and co-founder of fashion company PrettyLittleThing, to acquire a 2,276-square-meter plot of land, about half the size of a football field, on the prestigious man-made island of Jumeirah. Bay.

The businessman bought the currently unused property two years ago for just under $10 million, making a 242% return on the original purchase price.

No, this is not a mansion or a luxurious penthouse.

A piece of sand on Jumeirah Bay in Dubai was sold for $34 million, bringing the seller a 242% profit https://t.co/uy0Q9xoruM pic.twitter.com/SRuS7EvzAV

— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) April 24, 2023

The site is one of 128 for sale on the artificial island, which is connected to the emirate’s mainland by a 300-metre bridge.

Its skyrocketing price reflects not only the resilience of Dubai’s real estate sector to global downtrends, but also the investment trends of the world’s super-rich.

“Jumeirah Bay the most private of private, explains Andrew Cummings of Frank Dubai, the real estate agency that handled the sale. “It’s aimed at very high-income people who are asking, ‘What’s the best thing I can buy?’ He is the best in his class in Dubai.”

On the island with a total area of ​​​​only 1 sq. km in the shape of a seahorse is a five-star hotel built in collaboration with the Italian house Bulgari, as well as luxurious restaurants, a spa center and a marina for dozens of people. boats.

“It really attracts in 1% of 1% so that they can build their homes or holiday homes there. The type of property being built there now has nothing to do with what we saw in Dubai. Jumeirah Bay will be much larger than the equivalent of Beverly Hills,” adds Cummings.

The pandemic has also played a major role in the price spike, Cummings said. “In the last couple of years, people have wanted to move into bigger spaces and live on the beach. If we look at the example of New York City, the city dwellers moved to the countryside, which also happened to London and other major cities. In Dubai, in addition to that, we also had a huge influx of foreign investors who were attracted by the country’s proper handling of Covid, high vaccination rates, safety, as well as lifestyle,” he notes.

Source: CNN