ETA Star Hands Over Liberty House

ETA Star Property Developers has begun handing over units in its Dh700-million Liberty House in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The project, an L-shaped building, has 140 offices, 124 studios, 68 one-bedroom apartments and 28 two-bedroom apartments. The studios are priced at just over Dh1 million and the one-bed apartments at around Dh1.6 million. The residential units have been furnished as a gesture of 'goodwill' due to the slight delay of three months, according to Vijay Chugh, senior general manager of projects, ETA Star. While there has been a small adjustment in the prices, DIFC remains one of the more stable areas of Dubai in terms of prices and rental rates. There is also a covered 'retail tunnel' being developed that will link.

The Gate at DIFC to a prominent city mall. All buildings in the DIFC area will have a direct link to the tunnel. Abid Junaid, executive director of ETA Star Properties, said that a total of Dh1.5 billion worth of his company's projects would be handed over this year. "All our launched projects are going ahead. Now, a developer has to time his development in sync with infrastructure," Junaid said. Business sentiment is becoming more positive and is reflected in a slight increase in transaction volumes, he said. "Prices are bottoming out and during the last quarter of 2009 we hope there will be a recovery in terms of volume and prices. Price follows volume&An increase in volume will lead to an increase in pricing.