23 Marina

Intro:

Tallest residential tower in the world--will it be the Princess Tower or 23 Marina? It seems that Princess Tower's developers had the jump start on announcing their project (as early as Nov. 2004) but construction work seems to be moving along more quickly in 23 Marina which was initially announced in March 2005. With a 2008 projected completion date this tower should be able to hold on to the title for up to a year.

The 90-story tower should be noteworthy not only for its height but also for its features. They include a 6-story high lobby and up to 48 duplex apartments positioned on the upper 26 floors of the tower. Each duplex will have a private elevator to service its two levels and a small plunge pool on the balcony. (Duplex lower level--click image to enlarge.)

Other facilities will include health club, spas, indoor/outdoor pools, jogging track, business center, 24-hour concierge, 24-hour conveninece store, valet parking, etc. Lower floor units in the tower will have either 2 or 3 bedrooms, and all units will have quarters for a live-in housekeeper. The tower is clearly targeting an upscale clientele with numerous amenities and prices to match. The two-bedroom units start at Dhs 1.5 million.--03 Jan. 2006
Interior:


  Lobby with 6-story clearance.

With Reference to MAG 218:

23 Marina will be in near proximity to and just NE of the MAG 218 tower along D Road. There will be at least two other plots separating the towers on which other towers, not yet announced, may be built. Like the Princess and Torch towers facing the opposite side of the MAG 218, the Marina tower with its stunning height and attractive design will add one more interesting feature to MAG 218's views.

Resources:

• Developers' sites: ETA Star and Hircon.
  
• Skyscrapercity.com's 23 Marina Forum.
  
• Developer's construction updates--a useful addition to their website.
  
• Emporis' construction update info.

Floorplan:


Commentary:

The prospect of having "supertall" towers in the Dubai Marina excites many building enthusiasts. In this sense 23 Marina is a very welcome addition to the neighborhood. It will be interesting to see the battle played out between 23 Marina and Princess tower for tallest residential tower in the world--similar to the competition that will take place between the Burj Dubai and Al Burj to hold the title of tallest building in the world. Both these contests echo the great race that took place in New York City at the end of the 1920's. The Chrysler building emerged as the tallest building in the world in 1930 only to be eclipsed by the Empire State building just one year later.--03 Jan. 2006

Whatever shape this competition takes, investors like to know as much as they can about the project--what's being done, when, how and why. The following is an interesting scoop posted at 23 Marina's Skyscrapercity.com forum on 01 Sep 2005:

I met the development staff of this building and they gave me a lot of updates about the building. Firstly.... they are now commencing construction. We should see the excavator on site by September 10th and the piling rigs by September 20th. In fact, they're also saying that tower will be more than 380m tall. In fact, I saw a schematic that says it'll be 394m in their engineering team's office.

Secondly, the pools in the buildings have been advantageous for them. They said that it reduces the motion or 'sway' effect that people have. They are going to place a Tuned Mass Damper (The weight pendulum) on the top as well. The plunge pools will be heated and will be like a jacuzzi. They feel that people like to have parties near pools and don't really use their pools much. The building itself has 3 other massive swimming pools downstairs -- Outdoors as well as indoors.

The Name 23 Marina comes from plot No. 23D on Dubai Marina. These guys have done research on everything. For e.g. - there are special elevators servicing the top 1/3rd of the building. These will travel at 8.0M/s. These will be at 8.0M/s only at peak hours, so that at non-peak hours people can travel without their ears popping. They did a study so that nobody waits more than 45secs for an elevator. Should be better than most of the towers of Sheikh Zayed Road.

   Quick Data

• Building/Project Title: 23 Marina
  
• Developer/Architect: ETA Star & Hircon, LLC / KEO International Consultants; Hafeez Contractor; International Engineering Center and Rowan Williams, Davies & Irwin Inc.
  
• Contractors: NASA Multiplex LLC, Swissboring Overseas Piling
  
• Construction Start/Finish: 9-2005/2008
  
• Height & No. of Floors: 380+ meters, 90 floors
  
• No. & Type of Units: 2 & 3-bedroom (no.??) & 4 bedroom duplexes (48)
  
• Purchase Prices & Maintenance Fees (AED): 2-bed at 1,707sqft (1,536,849+), 3-bed at 2,189sqft (1,970,345), 4-bed at 5,451sqft (5,723,839); Mtnce. Fees (10 aed/sq ft)
  
• Location: District A23D
  
• Highlights: 6-story lobby; housekeeper's room; private elevator, plunge pool & jacuzzi in dublexes
  updated 03 Jan 2006
  Itallics indicate uncertain data. Please post comment to offer corrections.
  

  Builder at site working on test piling. (5 Dec 2005)

Go to Dubai Marina Communities' most recent posts, or view the complete listing (by title) of all Dubai Marina Communities and MAG 218 posts.