Palm beach is no man’s sand
Row between developers at luxury community in Dubai has left fee-paying residents without one of their favourite amenities amid claims of intimidation by security staff and complaints of ‘convoluted and ambiguous’ rules, Nadeem Hanif reports
DUBAI// About 1,000 residents of luxury waterfront flats on the Palm Jumeirah have been stopped from using their beach because of a dispute between developers.
People living in Shoreline apartment buildings Al Haseer 7 and Al Nabat 8 said they have been caught in the middle of a commercial dispute between Nakheel and IFA Hotels & Resorts that has resulted in Riva Beach Club being closed and the stretch of sand outside their homes on the man-made island declared out of bounds.
No warning of the decision to close the club was given, said residents, who were alerted when security guards began to order people off the beach and take furniture and sports equipment with them.
“The dispute, which has been ongoing for over two months, has meant that owners and residents cannot walk on the beach, sit on the beach or swim in the sea adjacent to the property,” said Julian Redman, chairman of the Al Haseer and Al Nabat Owners Association.
“Security guards have been very diligent making sure no one comes close to accessing the beach.”
On October 16, at about 9am, Nakheel security guards told staff at the IFA-owned club that the beach was closed, he said.
“They also instructed any res- idents to leave immediately and on one occasion the intimidation by the security guards brought an eight-year old to tears, which is totally unacceptable behaviour in this day and age,” said Mr Redman. “There was no warning or notification of this closure.” Mr Redman, who paid more than US$1 million (Dh3.67m) for his flat 12 months ago, said he has been left “disappointed and angry” at the closure.
“The OA [owners association] are up to date with all payments associated with the beach club and master community, which should allow unfettered access to all common areas including the beach,” he said.
“Many residents have come forward complaining of the closure and have threatened to withhold their service charge payments while the beach is closed, which is not helpful when you are managing a multimillion-dollar fund to manage these two buildings.”
The OA contacted IFA Hotels & Resorts, which developed the buildings Al Haseer 7 and Al Nabat 8, and were told that a fee was due, which appeared to be over and above the master community fees, he said.
Nakheel was approached to reopen the beach while negotiations with IFA continued but to no avail.
The OA also contacted Dubai’s Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera) but without success, said Mr Redman.
The association believed the beach was part of the common area cited in the master community declaration but was later informed by Rera that right of access was a matter for the Ports Cus- toms and Free Zone Corporation.
“The convoluted and ambiguous nature of the access means that owners and residents have bought into Dubai real estate with beach club access only to find that the access could be turned off at the whim of other authorities despite having paid for access within their master community fees and beach club fees,” he said.
At present, a date for the reopen- ing of the beach and associated club is unclear but Mr Redman has called on Rera to instruct Nakheel to allow access. “Many owners paid a premium for being in buildings 7 and 8 compared with other shoreline units,” he said.
“In the short term, it has affected rentals as we hear some owners are struggling to rent their units while this dispute is happening. In the long term, it doesn’t give the Dubai real estate market any credibility when a master developer can act in this way.”
A spokesman for Nakheel said the developer had “tried for more than seven years to amicably resolve this matter with IFA, the registered owner and controller of these buildings and its club house”.
“Until now, IFA has failed to pay its outstanding fees for beach access. Access will be re-granted once the arrears are settled.
“While we sympathise with the residents who are affected by this non-payment, we have no direct contact with them, and therefore urge them to liaise directly with IFA regarding the situation.”
An official source at IFA Hotels & Resorts said it is working to resolve the issue and acknowledged the inconvenience caused to residents.
“We expect to reach a resolution very shortly allowing for all stakeholders, whether they are owners, tenants, or commercial operators to resume full access to the beach. The fees have been the matter of extensive discussion with the master community as there was a lack of clarity in the original terms of purchase for the buildings. However, we continue to be in contact with the relevant management representatives to amicably settle the matter.”
No warning of the decision to close the club was given, residents say