The Observer has learned that Kanye West, the multi-platinum rapper and Twitter super-user recently sent representatives to the Persian Gulf region to scout locations for a short film. The project, which will take a form much like his 30-minute "Runaway"—a hybrid art film and music video starring model Selita E. Banks that premiered on MTV in October, 2010—is to be filmed in March. Read More
The art-auction calendar in the Middle East continues to get busier, with Christie's announcing that it will add a second day to its October sales of modern and contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish Art in Dubai. Read More
Israel is the fastest growing real estate market in the world right now. Foreign investors -- including many a New Yorker -- are snapping up property in the often troubled paradise. But that might be a mistake.
Global Property Guide ranked Israel the hottest housing market for the last two years. In the most recent Read More
So much for Karl Lagerfeld's Dubai dream. Like many things in the Emirate, it has proven too good to be true, falling victim to the city's collapse. Like the hundreds if not thousands of projects that have been abandoned before it, all that remains of the Isla Moda is its otherworldly renderings.
As The Observer Read More
It's been a while since we've read a good Dubai real estate disaster update.
This morning's comes care of India's NDTV. In a nutshell, vacancy rates are still rising, skyscrapers still remain incomplete, and purchasers of units in those incomplete towers are still unable to get their money back.
Here's a snippet:
Apartment buyers who made down payments Read More
The United States and Israel are to blame for upcoming restrictions on Blackberry use in the United Arab Emirates, says Dubai's police chief, Dhahi Khalfan Tamim. Addressing questions about an impending October suspension of Blackberry services by the UAE, Tamim told the daily al-Khaleej that the U.S. "is the primary beneficiary of having Read More
Even those who don’t adore Andrew Farkas give the guy his due: The New York whiz kid who conquered New York real estate before becoming Dubai World’s man in Manhattan is one sharp suit.
Consider this. In early 2009, well before Dubai World’s announcement that it would postpone servicing $26 billion in debt shook global markets, Read More
Even those who don’t adore Andrew Farkas give the guy his due: The New York whiz kid who conquered New York real estate before becoming Dubai World’s man in Manhattan is one sharp suit.
Consider this. In early 2009, well before Dubai World’s announcement that it would postpone servicing $26 billion in debt shook global Read More
The first issue of Bloomberg BusinessWeek landed in news stands today. What is it like?
First, the logo: "Bloomberg" is tucked discreetly between the the "B" and "i" in "Business."
The front of the book runs about 30 pages, and offers short write-ups on the Fed, GM, and "What Lurks on the Books of Banks."
The cover story Read More
In the 1989 movie Field of Dreams, an Iowa corn farmer, played by Kevin Costner, hears voices in his head. The voices encourage him to build a baseball diamond in the middle of a cornfield. Those voices repeatedly tell him, "If you build it, they will come." Apparently, these same voices were in the heads Read More
Tyler Brûlé was in New York on Wednesday morning, enjoying a cappuccino in the mausoleumlike lobby of the Four Seasons and talking about Monocle, his global business and culture magazine. He was in town for, as he put it, "a little commercial trip”—and it seemed a tightly scheduled one. Two dining companions had just Read More
From the Wall Street Journal: "This Mideast boomtown's government has hired financial advisers to review its investments amid a global credit crunch that has pushed up the cost of financing the emirate's large debt, according to senior Dubai officials. ... Analysts say Dubai may find it difficult to refinance its massive debt as international Read More
Former Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson is the latest celeb to attach her name to an eco-friendly hotel in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. In June, Ms. Anderson visited Abu Dhabi with the Make a Wish Foundation and reportedly "fell in love" with the emirate, prompting her to partner with the royal family Read More
New York magazine reports that at least two Manhattan nightlife impressarios, Pink Elephant owner Josh Kaiser and Star Lounge proprietor Charles Ferri, are both planning to open new posh boites in the emirate.
In fact, Read More
I wanted to know: How does the booming hotel market in Dubai compare to that of New York?
The dapper Donald Trump Jr. replied, "The high-end suites over Read More
