Fashion TV signs agreement with the Al Habtoor Group to build in Dubai the world's first Fashion Hotel. Fashion TV, this week at the Cannes Film Festival, announced plans, in collaboration with the Al Habtoor Group, to launch the world's first ever Fashion Hotel, in Dubai. The hotel, to be located in the heart of Dubai, will be owned and operated by the Al Habtoor Group. No specific details on location or opening dates were given. It will be 30-storey high and the exterior will display a projection using a 100 meter LED screen, broadcasting the latest Fashion TV highlights, around the clock. Its 200 rooms will be equipped with the latest lighting and audio-video technologies and will make extensive use of the latest 3D equipment. They will also have access to Fashion TV's 30 channels, as well as the biggest Fashion DVD library in the world, offering 50,000 DVDs on the history of fashion. The hotel will also have a wide variety of restaurants, bars, lounges, nightclubs, spas and cinemas, as well as fashion-themed rooms. Mohammed Al Habtoor said, "It's an exceptional project and one which is likely to have a massive impact on Dubai, making it the future fashion capital of the world. The city will certainly never be the same again." This won't be the only Fashion Hotel. Al Habtoor Group and Fashion TV said in an interview that plans are to open other Fashion Hotels in high-style locations around the world. We have our bets on Paris, Shanghai, New York, and Milan. The Al Habtoor Group has grown with the UAE, and while best known for construction, it is globally recognised through its involvement in the hotel, automotive, real estate, education, insurance and publishing sectors. It constructed Dubai International Airport, Dubai Hospital. Al Habtoor Group also built 321 meter high 7 star hotel Burj Al Arab and 600 room, 26 storey high Jumeirah Beach hotel.

As reported by Arabian business, Prime office rents in the Middle East have fallen off a list of the world's top ten most expensive locations, according to real estate consultancy Knight Frank. Commercial rents in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which were ranked the world's sixth and seventh priciest in 2010, have failed to make the top ten this year amid oversupply and falling rates. "The high levels of development activity in recent years have left many of these locations with an oversupply of office space, forcing landlords to reduce rents further to attract tenants. Prime office rents fell by 10-20 percent during 2010 in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and are likely to fall further in 2011.," analysts said. A five-year property boom in Dubai collapsed at the end of 2008 amid the global financial crisis, halving real estate prices. In neighboring Abu Dhabi, property prices fell around 45 percent. In Dubai's tax-free business hub, DIFC, rents have fallen 50 percent from their 2008-peak while approximately 200,000 square meter of office space is expected to be delivered by third party developers over the next 18 to 24 months, said Knight Frank. London's West End takes the top spot for the most expensive office rents in the world, up from second in 2010. Tokyo, Japan has dropped one spot this year, followed by Hong Kong and Moscow, said Knight Frank.

All buildings in Dubai, including world highest skyscraper Burj Khalifa will receive a Quick Response Code. The QR Code is a two-dimensional code (or matrix code) that includes all detailed information about the building. This QR Code will enable officials, landlords and the public easy electronic access to rightfully authorised data and services of the municipality and other government departments of the city. Besides general information about the building-owners, landlords, the plan and the area, QR Code in case of fire will help a user to get the details of the exact location of the building and access the service of the civil defense immediately. By using camera phones with QR Code reader, that support barcode scanners, and scanning the codes, users can receive latest information about inspection visits, as well as violations and fines. This project is vital for Dubai, as there were no addresses there, all the streets weren't named and the buildings didn't have numbers either-they can be learned by official documents only. The Digital City project is also a part of the "Zero Visit" initiative of the municipality that aims at boosting its e-services to the optimum level so that customers will not be required to visit the DM centers for availing services and conducting transactions. QR Code is a two-dimensional code, developed by Japanese Denso-Wave company. These QR Codes contain various information, consisting black modules in a square pattern on a white background or including text, numbers, pictures and colors. Dubai will be the second city after New York to introduce QR Codes for building permit services.

Invest in property in Dubai was pretty profitable a few years ago, and some real estate companies, even today, do not cease to advertise the desirability of investment in UAE real estate market, but ... A property boom in Dubai collapsed at the end of 2008 when it was hit by the global financial crisis. According to a poll by Reuters, Dubai house prices, already nearly 60% off their peak, are set to drop another 10% over the next two years, as new units are released onto a market awash with supply. Prices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are to fall 5% and 10% respectively in 2011, according to the poll, which was taken over the past week. The decline will continue in 2012 with prices falling in both cities about by 4%. Even the most optimistic analysts do not see Dubai's residential market bottoming out until the second half of this year at the earliest. Debts of some development companies have already crossed over billions of dollars. In the latest sign the property market is struggling, the Abu Dhabi government has stepped in with a $5.2bn aid package to the state's largest developer Aldar Properties to help the company meet looming debt obligations. Some of the major UAE developers have already switched to the fast growing eastern markets, towards India and China. The fate of the oversupplied real estate market of UAE remains still unclear. Who knows, maybe those 2 years will be best for property acquisition for the people who really need it? The situation on the real estate market in Armenia is partly similar to the Emirates, but there are some differences. Since 2009, there was not slump in real estate prices, but gradual decline. Falling prices naturally led to inappropriate investments in real estate as a means of raising capital, and positive growth trends are not observed. Supply of housing in older buildings and in new ones has increased, the number in need of housing is rather high, but the financial situation of the population and the high interest mortgage loans do not yet allow the real estate market stirring up.

Dubai wants to beat all records for high-rise construction. At the beginning of the year, the tallest building of the world, wonderful Burj Khalifa with 823 m height, opened its doors for public. At the end of the next year Dubai is going to set the new world record, now for the highest all-residential skyscraper. As reported by Tameer developing company, the 414-metre tall Princess Tower in Dubai's high-profile Dubai Marina will be ready for delivery by fourth quarter of 2011. The 107-storey building with 723 apartment units will hold residential height leadership only for two years, because in 2013 in the same area of Dubai will complete 516 m tall and 120 storey luxury Pentominium Tower construction, the design of which already won several professional awards. By definition of Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, current World Number One all-residential building is the Australian Q 1(Queensland Number One; Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast), standing 323-metre high with 78 floors.