discuss Beyond Dubai: Reem Island, Abu Dhabi. Don't Miss Out!

[$$Domainer]

I am going to tell you about a gigantic project going on in Abu Dhabi called Reem Island. This project is so huge 3 of the largest developers in the UAE(Tamouh, Sorouh, and Reem Investments) are building it. It is even bigger than The Pearl Qatar project that appeared in this forum last June.

- Reem Island is a combined residential, commercial and business project being built on a natural island off the coast of Abu Dhabi City and will be directly connected to Abu Dhabi City by a number of bridges. The location of Reem Island is only 20 minutes from Abu Dhabi International Airport.

- Reem Island will accomodate and estimated 280,000 residents. Some estimates go as high as 350,000!!

- Reem Island will contain Numerous hotels, resorts, beaches, spas, shopping malls, restaurants, medical clinics, many, many businesses, a 27 hole golf course, etc., etc.

- Just one of the business projects on Reem Island is Addax Port. By itself Addax is a massive port project which will contain 5 huge towers: an office tower and 4 other residential towers. And this is just one "small" part of Reem Island.

- Of course there will be tons of luxury condos and homes and villas, etc. to accomodate the huge number of residents of Reem Island.

- Reem Island will eventually be the "center" of Abu Dhabi which is the Richest of all the Emirates. Even richer than Dubai.

- Do a google search to get lots more info on Reem Island and here are a few sites to get you started: ReemIsland.com, AddaxPort.com, ReemInvestments.com. There are many more.

- There are still many good names left. I picked up:

ReemIslandProperties.com

ReemProperties.com

...but there are still many more left. As a domainer if you miss out on Reem Island you will never forgive yourself. Good luck and I hope this post was of help to you.

 

[Smith]

Can you tell us what it's like to live there? I am very curious now.

Depends where you are in Dubai really, some areas can be bit touristy and expensive, ie a meal is going to be $50 per person easily.

And there are other areas that are comparable to being in Mumbai, I've spent evenings where I didn't see another white person all night and dinner of kebabs was less than $5 per person.

There is 24/7 construction going on everywhere, and that gets quite tiresome.

Taxis are about 1/5th the cost of any other major city I've ever been to, I haven't even considered getting a car they are so cheap.

Driving is insane out here, the locals treat the highways like race courses, I've seen some Indy Car style crashes out here, and have been way too close for comfort with them once or twice.

It's hot in the summer, when you're outside you don't seem to sweat because it just evaporates off you right away, but when you go into an air conditioned place it states to pour.

The people seem pretty relaxed and easy going out here, most of the expats are in their early 40's or younger, so the mix of people can be entertaining.

It's more useful to speak Hindi out here than Arabic for day to day life, only use of Arabic seems to be in business meetings.

The Scale of the projects out here is amazing, I remember going to Las Vegas and being amazed by the strip. The Vegas strip to me now feels sort of like a local strip mall

Overall I like it here, it takes some time to get familiar with how things work out here, but with all the issues there are, they seem to have sort of worked out a balance of sorts. It will be interesting to see how it works out in the long term, but over all the region is a very interesting place to be at this point in time.

 

[namegame]

Some incredible designs, especially "the cloud" on page 1.
They for sure have gone mad :hehe:

Does anyone know when the next real estate projects exhibition in Dubai or Abu Dhabi is?

Downtown Burj Dubai, Masdar City, Silk City, and King Abdullah Economic City

"Empires in the Desert
by S.R. Nunnally, Taipan Trader
For 3,881 years, the Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest structure ever built. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World had a lot to live up to even then. The Great Pyramid and its cohorts remain something to see: a feat of strength and wealth shouting to the world, “Look at me!”

Well, there’s a new Pharaoh in town, and he’s building the world’s tallest buildings on the backs of foreign workers and foreign cash, just like old times. The Middle East once again holds the distinction of being home to the tallest structure on earth.

Dubai alone has more than 270 high-rises and is in the midst of constructing an additional 339. Furthermore, 330 high-rise construction projects have already been approved.

In fact, by 2015, Dubai will have more buildings of 100-plus floors than any other city in the world.

As mind-boggling as that sounds, Pharaoh’s only just begun…

The top 10 tallest buildings are a cumulative 4,918 feet. That’s not even counting Dubai’s newest skyscraper, Burj Dubai. That one, to be completed this year, is expected to be more than 2,000 feet.

The Burj Dubai alone will be more than the height of four Great Pyramids… more than all the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, stacked on top of each other.

Remember, too, that the Great Pyramid took 20 years to build. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus took six times that -- well over a century.

In contrast, the mighty Burj Dubai will be completed on December 30, 2008 -- less than four years from the time they broke ground.

Indeed, the Pharaohs live again.

What’s even more astounding than the heights of these new “Colossi” of Rhodes are the price tags. The top two towers in Dubai rang in at $650 million and $4.1 billion, or more than the entire GDPs of Belize and Barbados combined.

You haven’t seen anything, though, until you’ve looked at Dubai with a wide-angle lens.

Burj Dubai, the tower that will exceed 2,000 feet, is part of a larger development called “Downtown Burj Dubai.” It will be home to 30,000 citizens, with 19 residential towers and nine hotels.

And it will cost $20 billion to build.

If I stopped now, you’d probably be reasonably amazed at the amount of money these projects cost, at their sheer sizes and ambitions.

But I have to tell you, Downtown Burj Dubai is small potatoes.

Another city, to be named Masdar City and constructed less than 100 miles from Dubai on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, will cost $22 billion and will be the first “green” city ever built. (I’ll be dedicating a full article to this masterful plan at a later time, so stay tuned.)

But even these two massive projects combined don’t equal half the cost of Kuwait’s Silk City. This immense city will be home to 700,000 people and the 1,001-meter-tall Mubarak Tower -- the centerpiece of the Silk City skyline.

To channel Robin Leech for a moment, “The price tag for these champagne wishes and caviar dreams is an eye-watering $86 billion.”

I could spend an untold amount of time telling you all the amazing things this city will include, like a resort, a 200-hectare desert preserve, a new international airport, a new railway, and a bridge linking it to Kuwait City.

Instead, I’ll just send you to the official website, and move on to an even bigger project.

Yes, bigger…

Saudi Arabia is in the midst of constructing a city costing nearly more than these three huge projects (Downtown Burj Dubai, Masdar City and Silk City).

King Abdullah Economic City will cost more than $120 billion. That’s 16% more than Kuwait’s entire GDP.

It will be home to 2 million people in six distinct cities within 168 million square meters of prime coastal land.

A 14 million square-meter port on the Red Sea will make this mega-city a hub for trade with Europe, Africa and Asia. A central business district promises to be a new financial capital of the world. Sea resorts will offer some of the best tourist destinations in the Middle East.

The Industrial, Residential and Education zones are expected to be second to none.

I don’t mean to sound like a cheerleader. I just can’t help but stand in awe of these countries that are able to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into these massive “pleasure projects.”

For example, the United Arab Emirates is putting $60 billion into Dubailand, an entertainment district that will cover 3 billion square feet and include some of the largest, most expensive attractions ever built.

How big is a 3-billion-square-foot amusement park exactly? First, take every single Disney-owned theme park and resort in the world. Then imagine them all in one place. Then double that.

Middle Eastern countries are literally creating Empires in the Desert, building them on a scale never before seen or even imagined. Their only limits are the depths of their pockets. And right now, those pockets seem to have no bottom at all..."

 

[gilescoley]

Hi all

I have been contacting some of the large real estates and property developers over in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi and Oman and I found most of them to be pretty civil and very friendly considering they have just received an email from a complete stranger trying to sell them a domain. I am surprised because I am sure these guys gets lots of email from us regardig these names, I thought they would be sick of it and just reply with a "NO"

Some of them have actually said "Thanks but they werent interested at the moment but they will keep my email address and contact me should they require any in the future. I have also had a couple of them suggest other companies/developers that may be interested.


Some come across a little rude, and by rude I mean their emails just say "Sorry we're not interested" but this is probably just the way I interpret the email. The could have been really busy, but hey, at least they replied, which is more than some do.

Personally I have found some of the CEO's and big executives to be very helpful and friendly, considering the positions they are in. I have been in contact with one Arabic gentleman who is a very, very powerful man over there and is on the "2008's 100 most powerful arabs" list (worth $45 billion) He was very nice and we exchanged a few emails discussing the names I had and the projects his comapany were involved in, I found this a real eye-opener and considering the way I approached him (email) I thought he was very civil and professional too.

He said he would consider a couple of the names in the near future, but at the moment he would nt be buying them at the price I wanted. Im sure if I dropped my price, he would have snapped them up, he's probably just play hardball with me.


From my experience, I found the best way to deal with these guys is not to be to formal in your email
s, make them a little friendlier and treat them more like a mate , obviously still having a professional and business tone to the email

Just my 2 cents worth from my experiences lately

Good luck everyone

 

[Smith]

In my view Dubai was just overrated. It's not paradise on Earth, personally I wouldn't want to live there. For one thing, it's not exactly a beacon of freedom.

What are you comparing it to is the real question.

To someone who comes from a country like Egypt or Saudi or Pakistan or virtually any other Gulf country, Dubai is amazingly free & safe. It's a life that they could never hope to achieve at home.

The British expats also love it there. People who would be lucky to be a mid-level manager in the UK get executive positions in the Middle East and can have a life style that can't be matched at home.

Now what does one trade for this lifestyle is also something that is very real.

First off, you have to live in a Muslim country, a very confused and hypocritical one. If you've never lived in a Muslim country, imagine living in the deep southern bible belt where society revolves around church and Jesus. Yes, it's f---ing scary. Jesus or Mohammad / bible thumpers or Koran thumpers (torah thumpers for that matter) are all the same at the end of the day, nice individually collectively though ....

Then you have to consider that you're living under Monarchy rule, there is one guy, Sheik Mo who is "The Ruler" who is never wrong but has absolute idiots for advisers. The people realistically have no say in the governance of the city state.

Of course there are the human rights abuses, but that's on par for the region and Dubai outwardly is better than most in the Gulf.

And then there is the weather. It's hot, f---ing hot, and it's not a dry heat, it's like living in a sauna for 8 months of the year.

But why it worked in Dubai and why it continues to in some ways, is that everyone knew/knows what the deal going in. They know that you can get drunk and sleep with prostitutes as long as you do it within the unsaid rules of Dubai, they knew you can bend your morality around labour laws, they know that people were worth more based on where they come from. But everyone is on the same page, and everyone was making more money and living better than they could at home.

Dubai was a dream for many and for some it still is. It's not going to go away, but it will change. It's going to skim the scum of societies from around the world and condense it into the soulless cesspool that is Dubai. They have no choice now, they have already robbed blind everyone who believed in the Ruler's original vision, now it's time to feed off of everyone else.

 

[domainerd1]

Here is my rudimentary stab at a .tv site related to Al Reem -

http://alreemisle-tv.channelme.tv/

The only worthwhile videos I could find were the two that were posted earlier in this thread.

 

[-Raja-]

these names still up for grabs

ReemDirectory*com
ReemGuide*com
ReemToday*com

 

[DomainMayhem.com]

we're competing..lol I had reemgolf in my cart trade ya JK

Awwww, sorry 'bout that. Happened to me a few times the first day of reggin reems (on Saturday). Lost Reem.tv to mrdomainman (congrats again, that is just a gem of a name and I would value it at $x,xxx even now as a fresh reg). I was weighing getting it in my mind, waited an hour, and poof, gone.

ReemPoker.com is a very fine name. Don't forget ReemCasinos to go with it .

 

[nicedomains]

ReemPoker.com is a very fine name. Don't forget ReemCasinos to go with it .

Oh yea.. don't forget ReemGolfCourses com.... to go with yours

 

[Smith]

here is a pic of the island I took the other week if anyone is interested

http://www.picturehosting.com/images/philbert/island.jpg

 

[Krossat]

There is a stir abt Reem @ dubai as well. Top brands @ Emirates Mall and City Centre Mall would be putting up exclusive outlets there.
I primarily found Reem projection to be a Resort oriented Travellers paradise.

The Key name to be used by most is AlReem. Although Reem i perceieve wud be usedby travellers, local domains wud prefer AlReem better. Saw lots of good companies with Al<company name> domains.

 

[0lgi]

ReemISP.com
ReemDSL.com
TravelReem.com
ReemWireless.com
AlReemAirlines.com
AlReemAirways.com


All of these are available to register , grab them quickly

Thanks

Olgi

 

[Smith]

here is an article on domains from today's Gulf News:

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/10/09/10159055.html

 

[Smith]

updated with pics from today.

http://www.projectdxb.com/

by the way, this is the $11 billion project that was announced:

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/502157-dubai-properties-takes-wraps-off-11bn-project?ln=en

 

[Smith]

This is the only display Reem Developers had:

http://www.projectdxb.com/slides/IMG_5650.html

And this is one of the buildings being sold by a company there on Reem Island:

http://www.projectdxb.com/slides/IMG_5630.html

Designed by the same company that designed the "iPad" the building modeled after the ipod

http://www.projectdxb.com/slides/IMG_5641.html

Won't be any more pictures though, have meetings tomorrow, and can't make it (or deal with another day there).

 

[$$Domainer]

UPDATES: 3 Excellent Articles!

This first article called "Abu Dhabi projects in focus" gives an excellent overview of the huge amount of project development in Abu Dhabi:

http://www.tradearabia.com/news/newsdetails.asp?Sn=CONS&artid=133932

This next one called "Bahrain property show sold out" is a nice overview of the Bahrain property boom. The Bahrain International Property Exhibition (BIPEX) is being held Nov. 28-30 at the Bahrain International Exhibition Center:

http://www.tradearabia.com/news/newsdetails.asp?Sn=REAL&artid=133812

The last one "UAE is top tier conference destination" reports that the UAE has become the FIFTH PREFERRED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD in which to hold a conference, beating more established conference destinations like the UK, France and Japan:

http://www.tradearabia.com/news/newsdetails.asp?Sn=MEDIA&artid=133909


----------------------------------------------------------------

Seperately, exactly 2 months ago today this thread was started and look how far we have gone in just a few months.

 

[$$Domainer]

The Saudi Arabia Construction Boom: King Abdullah Economic City

This is the MacDaddy of all Mega-Projects! King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) is the biggest Mega-Project in the Middle East. Bigger than any Dubai Mega-Project. Bigger than any Abu Dhabi Mega-Project. I think it is the biggest Mega-Project going on anywhere in the world, but I am not 100% sure. Total cost estimated at $120Billion. And who is developing it? Emaar of DUBAI!! As I noted in a previous post Dubai has taken a big interest in Saudi.

KAEC, when completed, will house 2,000,000 residents and create 1,000,000 jobs. Just imagine how big that will be!! KAEC will contain 6 distinctive areas:

1. Sea Port

2. Industrial Zone

3. Central Business District made up of commercial businesses, hotels, retail stores and a financial island

4. Resort District

5. Educational Zone

6. Residential Communities

Some of the facilities will include parks, recreational areas, healthcare centers, a huge stadium, beach boardwalks, lagoons, monorails, skywalks, FIVE YACHT CLUBS, etc., etc.

KAEC is so big and so fantastic It may end up being the number one Middle East Mega-Project...FOREVER! I don't think even Dubai or Abu Dhabi will be able to top this one!

Read more here:

http://www.kingabdullahcity.com/en/

http://www.sagia.gov.sa/en/business-opportunities/economic-cities/king-abdullah-economic-city.html

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=93284&d=8&m=3&y=2007

Here is a link to Entaj which is a sort of industrial version of Silicon Valley that will be part of KAEC:

http://www.entaj.com/

Here are some pics of scale models of KAEC. Just take a look at these! INCREDIBLE!!

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8536/img1641ay1.jpg
(note the magnification button in the lower right hand corner of this pic}

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1108/714387384_454ab54927_o.jpg

 

[$$Domainer]

The Richest City in the World!

Here is a great article I just came upon entitled "The Richest City in the World." Which city? Dubai?? NO. Abu Dhabi?? YES!! It's really a terrific article from Fortune Magazine that I think all of you will enjoy. Goes nice with that article I posted earlier about how in 4 years Abu Dhabi will surpass Dubai in construction projects.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/03/19/8402357/index.htm

 

[$$Domainer]

Entaj Industrial Valley

There is a new Mega Project going up in Saudi Arabia called Entaj Industrial Valley. It is the Middle East's answer to Silicon Valley. Entaj is going to be BIG and there are still some domaining opportunities left. You can read the details on Entaj in my blog, I just did a new post on it:

http://uaemegaprojects.blogspot.com

 

[$$Domainer]

Marina West, Bahrain

There is a new Mega Project being developed in Bahrain called Marina West. It is a gigantic mixed use residential/retail/leisure development, and will be the first beachfront development for Bahrain. It is already 10% sold out eventhough it will not be complete until Dec.2009, and residences have only been on sale for a month. You can get more details at my blog- I just did a new post on it:

http://uaemegaprojects.blogspot.com

 

[$$Domainer]

DuBiotech: Dubai Biotechnology Mega Project

There is a new Mega Project being built in Dubai called DuBiotech. It will make Dubai a world leader in the Life Science Industries. This is a massive project and is in fact the size of one of their city projects. It is the first of its kind in the Middle East. You can get more details from my blog, I just did a new post about it:

http://uaemegaprojects.blogspot.com

 

[Smith]

Some incredible designs, especially "the cloud" on page 1.
They for sure have gone mad :hehe:

Does anyone know when the next real estate projects exhibition in Dubai or Abu Dhabi is?

http://www.biztradeshows.com/unitedarabemirates/dubai/

Next big one is Cityscape Abu Dhabi

 

[nicedomains]

I don't know how you guys do it man. Besides one major offer, still haven't gotten any real offers. I woulda thought UAEbooking.com, Dubai-Rental.com, UAE-Rental.com, DubaiEconomy.com, DubaiPalmProperty(ies).com would be the ones AT LEASTTTTT to get some kind of decent offers from the more than 100 domains I've listed. I even made a site for them and it is getting some traffic the site.
I am thinking of developing some of them. But either I'm doing something wrong or the one's I own aren't as good as I thought they were...

:bah:

I don't think anyone here is claiming to be making a living on UAE domains. I think we are all in the same boat with this niche, which is IMO, to wait and see what the future holds as this part of the world is still under massive amounts of construction and growth.

Personally, I am happy to be a part of this as I try to regularly update AbuDhabiBlog.com. It is gaining more and more traffic by the day, and I still haven't implemented a revenue making system on it (adsense, adbrite, etc..). I have 50-60 UAE domains all pointing to two of my sites. Many of my UAE domains have other development plans as well.. I guess I am not looking for a quick flip with most of them, it's not what I expected when I registered them.. Good luck!

 

[$$Domainer]

Ajman Is Now Number One!!

Ajman has superceded ALL OTHER EMIRATES - AND THIS INCLUDES DUBAI AND ABU DHABI - for attracting foreign investment into the UAE!!

Read the full article here and START BUYING UP THOSE AJMAN DOMAINS:

http://www.tradearabia.com/news/newsdetails.asp?Sn=REAL&artid=140444

I did quite a few posts in this thread about the Ajman Mega Projects and I have covered the two most important Ajman Mega Projects - The Ajman Marina and Emirates City - in more detail in my blog:

http://uaemegaprojects.blogspot.com

 

[ipodxpert]

The extreme emphasis on luxury in Dubai over the last decade is precisely why the market for budget travel is wide open. While most hotel guests continue to stay at high-end places, statistics show a growing demand for lower-priced accommodations.

The number of guests who stayed in five-star luxury hotels in Dubai increased just 10 percent, to nearly 2 million, in 2005 from the previous year, according to the latest statistics available online from the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. By contrast, the number staying in one-star, limited-service hotels jumped 32 percent in that same time, to about 600,000.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/travel/11pracdubai.html

i have following travel related domains,

DubaiBudgetTravel.com - low price budget travel

DubaiBudgetRental.com - low price budget rental

DubaiExecutiveRental.com - High priced rental.