New report suggests demolition as solution to Dubai’s property over-capacity.
There was a time, less than four years ago, when it was claimed that over half the world’s tower cranes were working in Dubai. Rarely has the world witnessed such wildfire construction, as developers pandered to the property desires of the rich and famous to build ever-larger, ever-more-extravagant edifices along the Dubai man-made coastline.
Just as surely as eggs is eggs, the economic recession hit Dubai full-force. But unlike cities in the real world, Dubai just kept on spending; kept on building. A glut of vacant office space is continuing to spiral, despite the economic crisis, thanks to the forests of new tower blocks started by developers as the boom reached it peak in 2007, researchers said.
With some “holes in the ground” awaiting further development already being filled in, further radical solutions to the problem are needed, said the authors, researching for the property firm Jones Lang LaSalle.
“The best prospect for reducing vacancies lies with initiatives to limit future supply and encourage the withdrawal of existing buildings from stock through conversion to non-office buildings or even demolition,” the report concludes.
Read more here.
