Damac Properties, a Dubai-based developer, has announced plans to build a luxury residential tower in south-west London’s Nine Elms regeneration area.
The first apartments in the 50-storey Aykon Nine Elms building will go on sale this week – before ground has even broken on the scheme – for $1m a piece. The scheme is due for completion in 2020.
There is a huge appetite from our current global customer base for luxury property investments in London– Hussain Sajwani, Damac founder
Sales are open to UK buyers first, with international investors allowed to buy later on.
The selling point will be interiors designed by Italian fashion house, Versace, and the project is being billed as "London’s first fashion-branded residence".
It will include 360 units, 90 of which are billed as "affordable". Its amenities will include a gym, an indoor swimming pool, an owners’ lounge and a spa.
"Participation in the real estate business provides the opportunity to fully experience the Versace lifestyle," said Versace chief executive, Gian Giacomo Ferraris, in a statement.Â
"In recent years, the private residential projects have become a strategic part of the Versace world. Today, thanks to the collaboration with Damac – a developer whom we have worked with for many years and who shares our vision for the highest standards – we bring the ultimate expression of Versace’s lifestyle to the very heart of London."
The exterior has been designed by US architectural practice Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, with project manager Turner & Townsend, agent JLL and engineer WSP being among the principal consultants.
Aykon will be Damac’s first scheme outside Dubai, and follows its listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2013. One-fifth of the scheme will be held by the company and four-fifths will be owned by Hussain Sajwani, Damac’s founder and chairman.
"Aykon Nine Elms is our first project outside the Middle East," Mr Sajwani said. "There is a huge appetite from our current global customer base for luxury property investments in London. Aykom presents an unrivalled opportunity for them to access the stable and established London market."
The value of London’s housing market is growing at 6%, a rate that Mr Sajwani said he expected to continue in the future.
Damac Properties has delivered 14,000 units in the Middle East and has another 37,000 in the development pipeline.
Photograph: A rendering of the Versace-designed owners’ lounge in the planned Aykon Nine Elms development (Source: Damac)
