PALAZZO VERSACE DUBAI.
After commencing development of the luxurious Palazzo Versace Dubai back in 2006, previously expected to open this Summer, the long-awaited opening of the estimated USD$626 million luxury property by Emirates Sunland Group has been postponed yet again. “Now we are finalizing Palazzo Versace here in Dubai for 2014. It is now in full speed and will be located on the opposite side of Festival City,” Gian Giacomo Ferraris, CEO of Versace, told Arabian Business in an interview.
According to Ferraris, the project will include two Versace-branded residential buildings with 169 apartments, and a Versace-designed hotel with 217 suites. The suites’ indoor design is expected to be as sumptuous as the building itself.
Speaking to The Bangkok Post, Pakistani painter and social worker, Jimmy Engineer, said, “The most expensive painting that I’ve sold was USD$2.4 million, which the Versace project (in Dubai) took up”. Engineer added that the Palazzo Versace Dubai recently commissioned him to create abstract works, following the success of his paintings reflecting the infamous 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan.
2013 appears to be the year of Versace in Dubai. Besides the ongoing luxury hotel & residence project, the Italian brand also celebrated its new partnership for the global market with Dubai-based fine jewelry retailer and manufacturer, Samra International, earlier this Summer. The company signed the license for Versace Fine Jewelry in the Middle East back in 2009 and upgraded its status with a worldwide license in July 2013. The jeweler now manufactures a range of precious statement pieces sold in its flagship store at the Dubai Mall. “Culturally, we know that a big part of our turnover is related to the Gulf area. Certainly more than ten percent and it will soon reach fifteen percent”, added Ferraris during the interview.
