There is a wide range of things that can be purchased with a sum of $34 million. In different parts of the world, this amount could buy castles, sprawling seaside mansions, or majestic estates that stretch for miles and miles. Fleets of luxurious Lamborghini sports cars or imposing Rolls-Royce Phantoms could also be acquired, and it would even be possible to buy a private jet.
In Dubai, however, that amount goes to buy a lot of sand. But not just any pile of sand, but an empty property on the exclusive island of Jumeirah Bay, which recently sold for more than $34 million, an exorbitant price even in a region where real estate prices can reach heights as high as skyscrapers.
British entrepreneur Umar Kamani, co-founder of fashion retailer PrettyLittleThing, sold the 24,500-square-meter property. The sale, for 125 million dirhams (AED), represents a whopping 242% gain over the original purchase price in 2021 of approximately $10 million.
The identity of the buyer is unknown.
The area of this property is part of the 128 initially available on this artificial island, which is connected to the mainland by a 300-meter bridge. Its astronomical price reflects not only the resilience of some Dubai real estate in the face of downward trends in global economies but also where the dollars of the ultra-rich are going, according to real estate agents.
“Jumeirah Bay is the most exclusive of the exclusive,” says Andrew Cummings of Knight Frank Dubai, the real estate agency handling the sale. “It’s designed for very-high-net worth individuals who are asking themselves, “What’s the best I can get?” It represents the ultimate in terms of location and property in Dubai.”
Shaped like a seahorse, the island spans 6.3 million square meters and features a five-star hotel developed in collaboration with Italian luxury brand Bulgari, which opened in 2017 and was quickly recognized as the best new luxury hotel in the world. Jumeirah Bay Island is also home to numerous sandy beaches, a yacht marina, high-end restaurants, a gym, and a spa center. In addition, there are a limited number of luxury apartments in the Bulgari hotel complex.
In 2022, two similar plots of land on the island were sold together for AED 180 million, or approximately $49 million, indicating that land values continue to rise. “The value of this land has increased significantly due to its location, which is in close proximity to Bulgari and Four Seasons, as well as downtown Dubai and the business district,” Cummings explains. “It is also due to the privacy and exclusivity offered by an island that only has about