Damac starts serviced-apartment brand to fill gap

Damac has launched a subsidiary that will manage serviced apartments under the brand Damac Suites & Spa. The new division's first management project will be the Burjside Boulevard complex, currently under construction in Downtown Dubai.

Speaking on the sideslines of the Cityscape Global conference currently underway, senior vice president Niall McLoughlin explained that out of the 200 serviced apartments in the country, only a handful are at a five-star level, a niche which the firm planned to exploit.

"It’s top five-star serviced apartments that we think are undeveloped," he said. "We don’t think there’s a proper offering. There’s a market niche for personalised bespoke servicing. This would be a tailor-made butler service. You want a private chef in your apartment to host a party, Damac Suites & Spa can facilitate that through a wholly-run subsidiary of Damac properties."

Pricing for the service will be based on the square footage of the apartment being leased, with incremental costs going upwards and ala carte menus. McLoughlin promised that whatever size the apartment, every resident at Burjside Boulevard would be able to use every facility available, including and up to chartering yachts or jets for personal use.

While Damac is primarily known as property developer, the launching of Suites & Spa is the first step in a plan of diversification, which McLoughlin said does not rule out the potential development of hotels.

"Our core competency is property development, the next step will be serviced apartments which we recognised early on in 2009 and introduced. Maybe in three years I’ll be talking about a hotel. Hotels are a different proposition because you go into booking systems, marketing – it is literally the very deep end [of the business]," he remarked.

Burjside Boulevard is currently built up to the 35th floor, with a final projected completion date of Q3 2013, when Damac Suites & Spa will take over management of the property. A team of in-house designers who have worked on other projects local and overseas will handle the interior design of the Burjside Boulevard.