Business
Sneak peek into Dubai villa sold for Dh102.8m in Emirates Hills
Headline staff
Dubai: Phoenix Homes has brokered a deal for a villa in the Emirates Hills community for a price of Dh102.8 million – the highest value deal in the community this year. It is also the second highest ever sale value for the area.
Myles Bush, a founding partner in the company and an experienced property expert, sealed the deal between the seller from Malta and the buyer, an Indian.
The villa is on a plot of some 38,000 square feet, typical of the prestigious, exclusive gated community’s property
offerings. Emirates Hills is one of the city’s most well-established and upmarket neighbourhoods, featuring an array of unique, mansion-esque villas situated on leafy streets surrounding the Montgomerie Golf Club.
The sprawling mansion has a built-up area of more than 20,000 square feet, and backs onto the golf course. The property features floor-to-ceiling windows, five huge bedrooms, a private cinema, a swimming pool and a gym.
“This sale underlines the positive growth trajectory we are seeing in local real estate – and also serves to cement Phoenix Homes’ reputation as one of the top agencies in the city’s vibrant luxury segment.”
It also helped that Bush has a track record for big deals in the community as well as familiarity with the seller. “This is another notch in my career progression. I was behind the largest villa sale of 2017, the largest lease ever recorded in 2018, and the largest land sale of 2019. I’ve worked with the seller before, and both parties were wonderful people to deal with. We have no doubt that future business will be done with both parties.”
Myles and the team have another reason to celebrate as the sale was concluded on the company’s first anniversary. Phoenix Homes claims to give its team of 18 experienced brokers complete freedom to work how and where they like, with an 80% commission model.
This extraordinary model goes against the regional norm – splitting commission 50/50 between the agent and the agency. Myles will receive a hefty 7-figure commission for his latest sale deal. And while some US models charge brokers for desks and marketing, Phoenix offers workspace for those who want it, and leaves each broker to decide if they want to contribute to marketing of their property portfolio.
Operating from a 3,000 square feet office in Barsha Heights with an admin team, the company carries clout in the local markets – underlined by this record-breaking deal.
Brokers joining the agency can choose to spend some of their commission on promoting their portfolio on Phoenix Homes’ channels if they wish. They can also promote their properties via whichever methods they know work best for them, without paying money into the firm.
Phoenix Homes offers sales and lettings of both residential and commercial properties in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and plans to swiftly open a UK office to assist in international property negotiations.
Investment opportunities in eSports and virtual gaming are on the rise, especially in Southeast Asia and Middle East and North Africa market regions, and companies such as Esports Technologies are looking to ride the wave.
Esports Technologies made the biggest splash of the IPO market for the year 2021 on the NASDAQ (EBET) when it made its debut with a jump in share value of 507% and eventually soared up to 700%.
According to a new market research report titled ‘Southeast Asian Gaming Market – (2023-2028)’ and released in March this year by Mordor Intelligence, the market is expected to register a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 16.2% with the onset of 5G technology. It marks a reverse trend after a little flat 2022 when revenues dipped slightly. Only the MENA and Latin America regions showed positive growth, according to a NewZoo report.
The rising popularity of various sports and investments in internet infrastructure are the primary factors driving the market’s enormous growth potential. Buying E-sports stocks online and their subsequent performance are the rage among America and South Asian investors with an incredible surge in both demand and price.
Since the IPO of Esports Technologies, it has been confirmed on the books as well above average opening. According to data from Jay Ritter, the average IPO pop from 1980 through 2020 was 18.4% in one day. In 2021, the average first day gain after an IPO was 16%. Using all common stock IPOs between 2000 and 2020, the positive average first-day IPO returns was 21.11 percent in one day.
While getting a direct exposure to the eSports theme is fairly limited, investors can target companies that generate significant revenue from video games and e-sports.
Competitive gaming events, conducted virtually at a professional level, are becoming big business. With its roots being in South Korea, Asia has led global eSports trends and growth for over the past 20 years.
The UAE is a melting pot of cultures and the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development fell on Sunday 21. Many organisations celebrated the occasion in the poster city of Dubai over the weekend while some opted to beat the Monday blues with the right excuse.
Data Direct Group, a leading business group in Dubai since 2002, chose to start early with lot of fun activities at their Deira headquarters. DDG’s core arm is digitally driven Business Process Outsourcing. With 26 nationalities working on ensuring good customer experiences, unity in diversity and cultural amalgamation comes naturally at the organisation.
“May 21 is a very important day for us,” said Rajiv Dalmia, the group founder and chairman. “Diversity of cultures is an extended requirement of the business, but it is also very vital to our ethos if we have to remain true to our values to enhance customer experience.” DD is also an equal opportunity employer to more than 580 employees with around 290 of them as females.
Data Direct has nearly 30 nationalities represented in a roster of around 580 employees. Pictures supplied
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are more than 200 nationalities living in the UAE, with 10% Emiratis and an eclectic mix of expatriates. That is more than the member states registered with the United Nations at 195.
As a leading group handling the customers of many government and private companies, the DDG roster is an ideal microcosm of the varied and colourful mix of religions, race, ethnicity, caste or creed. “Many call centres in the UAE try to cater to the top nationalities by numbers among the population by keeping a dedicated option for customers to converse in the language of preference,” said Dalmia.
Data Direct keeps gender equality a priority just as being an equal opportunity employer.
“We also keep evolving and try to incorporate inclusion to the best extent possible, even if there is only so much you can do.”
Girish Ojha, the chief human resource officer, agrees. “While language can be a barrier at times, our instructions to the staff is to be understanding and try to reach out to them in all means possible. On a daily basis, with each call that tries to reach out to our clients through us, our employees are duty bound to make data available through any source of contact possible.”
One of the key members of Data Direct, on condition of anonymity, said: “I am a global citizen when I am here in the UAE. The charm of working in this country and at this workplace is that you get to learn so much about the world without travelling anywhere.”
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