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Impossible is nothing
"I don't believe there's anything impossible to do, career-wise or work-wise. In life, there is something impossible; I cannot make myself younger, but everything else is possible," says Mohamed Binbrek, CEO of Dubai Properties (DP), one of the emirate's top three property developers.
Binbrek is an almost impossible man to track down. Apparently, he has a slot for only one interview every month and with the long line of awaiting journalists, you are bound to get stuck somewhere between the end and the middle, for a very long time. Browsing through a list of the company's multi-billion-dollar projects, it is understandable why.
I wait in the light-flooded spacious coffee area of the Business Bay sales centre. We finally meet. Binbrek offers a firm handshake and utters a greeting in a fluent English accent. He is a man of calm character and there is little surprise, as Binbrek reveals he is a former banker who has worked for financial giants including Citibank and ABN Amro, but he adds that is happy to have changed lanes. "In banking, while it's a service industry, the opportunities for creativity are very limited. It's a question of how you make your services better, how you improve your standards but beyond that you are really limited with how to be creative," says Binbrek.
Property, however, is an entirely different ball game, according to Binbrek; bringing on bigger challenges and more room for creativity.
"This business is where we're creating new norms; it's something different for this part of the world," he says, adding: "there's an opportunity to be creative... finding solutions, learning not only from countries that have been through the same route but even businesses."
The giant developer is involved in some of some of the biggest and most talked projects in the region, if not on an international level. In addition to the mixed-use Business Bay development, which amounts to a staggering US$30bn, the company also has Jumeirah Beach Residence (US$2bn), Tijara Town (US$1.7bn) and Culture Village (US$13bn) under its umbrella.
Founded in 2004, DP is a member of Dubai Holding, a holding entity belonging to the government of Dubai. Handling diverse projects, DP was granted freehold status in 2006 allowing non-GCC citizens to purchase freehold property in specific areas of Dubai. The doors were opened for DP as well as other top developers like Emaar and Nakheel to develop projects in designated areas. On whether freehold status was long-awaited by players in the local property market, Binbrek says: "I think when the property development initiative started in 2002 and when His Highness [Sheikh Mohammed] made a statement in May 2002 where he said we will allow foreigners to own freehold property in Dubai, we believed this would only be a matter of time and went ahead and started our developments."
He adds: "In terms of our positioning in the international market, I think it is good that there is a law in place now, a written document that is being accepted as consistent with international standards."
Besides attracting foreign investment, Binbrek believes granting freehold status has "given the opportunity to people living in Dubai, expatriates or locals, to satisfy the dream of owning property." He also adds that while factors holding back Emiratis from buying land and building houses are nil, not every Emirati had neither the "appetite or willingness" to take up pieces of land and build property.
"There's a sector in the population that wants it to be done in order for them to move in. For people who have aspired to own property, that need has been satisfied. I think that choice has come in because of master developers like ourselves operating in the market," says Binbrek.
He adds that prior to granting freehold the only property that could be owned was a villa; no one could own an apartment or condominium. "This has changed and made it accessible to the average person on the street," he says, adding: "That is more important a value-add. Clearly FDI [foreign direct investment] is something desirable and we believe will play a critical role, but this has allowed people, through property ownership, to be here and make Dubai their home."
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