Ellington in Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah: one design-led developer, two different markets

How do you assess a design developer’s project before it is built?

With developers who sell aesthetics, the gap between render and reality is the buyer’s main risk. Three actions reduce it: visit completed buildings, fix the specification in the contract, and find out who will manage the building.

Visit two or three finished buildings by the same developer and look past the lobby — at the joints between materials, the state of common areas after several years of use, the work of the management company. Design that survives use is the quality worth paying for.

Then compare the specification in the contract with what the showroom displays. With a conscientious developer the list of finishing materials, sanitaryware and appliances is fixed in an annex. The contract has legal force; the sales display does not.

Finally, ask who will run the building after handover. A signature aesthetic degrades quickly under weak facilities management while the charges stay premium, and then the mark-up paid for design never earns itself back.

Which unit fits which strategy?

Liquidity is unevenly spread in design-oriented projects. Studios and one-bedroom flats give the highest rent per square foot and let fastest, though in the premium segment their audience is limited.

Two-bedroom formats balance yield against stability of demand: couples, small families and corporate tenants all take them. Large apartments are bought mainly by end users and should be resold to that same audience, which lengthens the exit.

View and orientation are part of the product in such projects. A panorama of water or skyline is capitalised in both rent and resale, while a view of the car park wipes out part of the design premium.

In the resort projects of Ras Al Khaimah this is sharper still: the line from the sea and the floor decide occupancy and rate more than the nuances of a layout. In a product that sells emotion, buy the units with the most of it — they will also be the most liquid.

Can both markets sit in one portfolio?

Yes, and it is a sensible diversification. The Dubai unit provides liquidity and a stable rental flow; the Ras Al Khaimah property is the bet on growth of the resort destination.

The condition is not to finance both purchases at maximum leverage. Different markets move in different cycles, and the point of holding two is lost if one stretched borrower stands behind both.

Yields need the same care. Gross figures in Ras Al Khaimah can look more attractive because the entry price is lower, but the net return depends on occupancy, seasonality and the cost of management. Calculate the net figure for each property separately, not from advertising brochures.

Resale before completion differs as well. Dubai’s assignment market is active and well understood; in Ras Al Khaimah it is thinner, with fewer buyers and longer timelines. A strategy built on leaving before construction ends has more room for manoeuvre in a Dubai project.