Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) and Kerzner International on Monday unveiled plans for a dramatic, 46-story, US$1.4 billion resort and residence development in Dubai next to Atlantis The Palm.
The Royal Atlantis Resort and Residences, located on the crescent of The Palm, will include 800 rooms and suites created by architect Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and interior design firm GA Design, and 250 luxury residences designed by Sybille de Margerie Design. The project is expected to introduce a “revolutionary play between fire and water” and will include a Sky Pool almost 90 meters (295 feet) above The Palm, as well as “never-before-seen marine experiences.”
ICD, which this year acquired a 46% stake in Kerzner International and is also working on an Atlantis project in China, described the project as one that allows guests to feel as if they are literally floating between the sky and sea.
But does Dubai need another Atlantis? In the sense that the first one has been so successful having achieved impressively high yields considering its vast inventory of 1,539 keys, then the answer is “yes,” according to Guy Wilkinson, managing partner of Dubai-based Viability Management Consultants. “Dubai has never been content to rest on its laurels, and one is never enough,” Wilkinson told HOTELS. “That is why it is now developing the future Mall of the World, which will be much bigger than the Dubai Mall, which is already the world’s largest. It is reassuring to know that the second Atlantis hotel will look markedly different from the first one, and that there will be 250 residential apartments in the mix for the new property, making the hotel inventory relatively modest at 800 keys.”
During the unveiling, ICD also briefed attendees about the US$680 million One Za’abeel project in Dubai, which will include two towers linked by a suspended bridge and house two hotels, 130 hotel apartments and 550 residential units.
The two projects are expected to be completed over the next three years with the first phase opening in 2016.
H.E. Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, executive director and CEO of ICD and chairman of Kerzner International, reiterated the importance of this investment for Dubai and its strengthening hotel and tourism industry as the Emirate prepares to host the Expo World Fair in 2020.
The bigger question, according to Wilkinson, however, is whether or not Dubai can sustain such a major overall expansion to its hotel inventory? According to July 2014 research by Viability, there were already 106 other confirmed hotels planned to open in the city by 2019 with 31,509 future new keys, representing a 36% increase in keys. “The main reason to believe that it can sustain is the continued strong growth in visitors to the city,” Wilkinson adds.