Dubai's DAMAC unveils Expo 2020 hotel apartments

Dubai developer DAMAC Properties has unveiled a luxury serviced hotel apartments project at the heart of the emirate’s proposed Expo 2020 site.

Celestia, as it is known, will comprise of studios, one and two bedroom apartments across an eight-floor complex and will be located in Dubai World Central Residential City, near to the new Al Maktoum International Airport.

Facilities will include a retail area featuring fine-dining restaurants and designer boutiques, as well as state-of-the-art fitness and leisure amenities.

“Celestia will be the shining light in the heart of the world’s first ‘aerotropolis’ - a thriving and vibrant new community in Dubai,” said Niall McLoughlin, senior vice president, DAMAC Properties.

“Not only is Celestia set in the perfect location to serve Expo 2020 and Al Maktoum International Airport, it will also deliver residents high quality, five-star hotel standard services from DAMAC’s hospitality division,” he added.

Prices start from AED621,000 ($169,000), with the project slated for completion in 2016.

Earlier this week DAMAC, one of the developers hardest hit by Dubai’s 2009 property bust, said it tripled its 2013 net profit and plans more new projects this year, dismissing growing concerns of a new property bubble in the real estate market.

Property prices in Dubai rebounded by more than 20 percent last year, having slumped more than 50 percent from a 2008 peak before a real estate crash sparked a debt crisis.

DAMAC, which listed its shares on the London Stock Exchange in December, posted a net profit of $641.5m last year, against $212.5m in 2012. Revenue for the year grew 77 percent to $1.2bn.

The developer, which gave away yachts and sports cars to buyers of its luxury properties during the downturn, said it booked sales worth $2.5bn in 2013, compared with only $661m the previous year.