By Daliah Merzaban
DUBAI (Reuters) - Dubai-based Damac Properties said on Monday it was considering expansion into Europe and the United States as part of plans to develop a global luxury property brand.
"When you talk about a sports car you talk about Ferrari or Lamborghini ... that is what we are targeting. That is what we want to be for real estate," Damac Chairman Hussain Sajwani told the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit in Dubai.
Damac, which has 60 projects in the Middle East worth about 100 billion dirhams ($27.2 billion), wants to acquire existing real estate firms and develop land it buys on the east coast of the United States and in Europe, Chairman Hussain Sajwani said.
"We're looking very aggressively at these markets," he added.
Damac had a team in Europe last week to "study the market", and had been in negotiations for a plot of land in one European city which fell through last month, he said.
Returns are higher in the West than they are in Middle East real estate, Sajwani said.
The Burj Dubai skyscraper, billed by its developer as the world's tallest building, sells each square foot for 2,400 UAE dirhams ($653.6), compared with 4,000 pounds ($7,844) for a square foot of prime real estate in London, Sajwani said.
"There is more to be made in the Western world than in the Middle East," said Sajwani, whose company made sales of about 15 billion dirhams since starting in 2003, and expects sales to double this year over last. Continued...
© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved.
| Paper | Aug 20 - 21, 2008 | Manufacturing |
| Japan Investment | Jul 01 - 2, 2008 | Country Summits |
| Global Real Estate | Jun 23 - 25, 2008 | Real Estate |
| Consumer and Retail | Jun 16 - 18, 2008 | Consumer Retail |
| Investment Outlook | Jun 09 - 12, 2008 | Financial Services / Exchanges |
