A Downtown Dubai apartment has sold for a record AED14,000 per square foot, says Luxhabitat Sotheby’s International Realty.
The property firm officially launched Baccarat Residences just a month ago in Downtown Dubai and has already sold a residence for a record-breaking price-to-size ratio sum.
According to Bloomberg, the sale was for a US$55.3m (AED203.1m) five-bedroom residence in the development.
This ultra-luxury branded residence overlooks the Burj Khalifa and includes 49 apartments, each with between two and five bedrooms, situated across 24 floors.
The Baccarat Residences are owned by Shamal, which will collaborate closely with H&H Development on the project.
George Azar, chairman and CEO of Luxhabitat Sotheby’s International Realty, said: “We have seen a major uplift in the branded residences component and the demand in prime areas combined with the demand for a premium brand is not based on the market rules.
“At Luxhabitat Sotheby’s International Realty, we have done our pricing matrix based on selling branded residences across the globe and we have unmatched experience on how to find the right buyers on our global database.
“Three of the buyers for the Exclusive Baccarat Residences in Downtown Dubai are already owners of Baccarat residences in New York and Miami showing that the product is suited for avid collectors.”
Baccarat Residences and hotel in Dubai
Set to open in 2026, the new Baccarat property will boast 144 rooms and suites, along with 49 Baccarat-branded residences and four food and beverage outlets. There are few details on the development itself, though the hotel will sit in ‘Tower One’, giving views of the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Frame and Dubai Creek. There will be two towers in an ‘angular form’ according to Shamal.
The long journey for Baccarat in Dubai
While the statement claims Baccarat Hotels & Resorts was launched in 2015, the brand first appeared in July 2007 with plans to debut its first hotel in Hawaii in 2010, followed by Dubai.
Baccarat Hotels & Resorts is part of Starwood Capital Group, a private investment group with more than $60bn in assets, and Starwood Capital Group’s chairman is billionaire Barry Sternlicht, co-founder of Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
Sternlicht founded Starwood Hotels in 1995 and stepped down as chairman in 2005. Starwood was later sold to Marriott. Today, Sternlicht’s investment corp is unassociated with Marriott.
The hospitality titan played an instrumental role in the creation of Baccarat Hotels & Resorts, and his Starwood Capital Group was once a major shareholder in the 250-plus-year-old Baccarat crystal business too.
Baccarat Hotels’ website reads: “With the opening of Baccarat, he [Barry Sternlicht] has made it his mandate to create a refuge worthy of the revered name of this internationally renowned maker of French crystal.”
In 2015, Sternlicht formed SH Hotels & Resorts, his own hotel management company within his investment group for his own hotel brands, including 1 Hotels and Baccarat Hotels.