Art Nouveau Villa for sale in Vienna - €5 million

A new website marketing luxury properties launched this week - EliteAlps.com The site focuses purely on properties in the tourism hot spots in Austria. People who are interested in buying property overseas find a selection of luxury properties, castles, villas, chalets, apartments and houses, in Vienna, Lake Attersee, Salzburg, Kitzbühel, Zell am See, St. Anton and Ischgl. EliteAlps.com is the first Real Estate Website offering Austrian properties in Russian and English. In the near future an extension by Arabic, Danish, Polish and German is planned.

Luxury Investments Ltd. sees plenty of opportunity in the Austrian Luxury Real Estate segment. Due to Austria´s attractiveness as a tourism destination, hosting more than 50 million people each year, this county is the global tourism capital, per capita putting it ahead of any other country in the world. This popularity has also shaped Austria´s real estate market. “Anything goes” seems to be the motto since a change in regulations has made it easier for foreigners to acquire properties in the Alpine Republic. In hot spots like Vienna, Salzburg, St. Anton or Kitzbühel property prices have skyrocketed in the last years. Despite the present real estate crisis those Austrian places seem to stay untouched as an increasing number of wealthy individuals from Russia, UK, Germany, Poland, Israel and Arabic countries is acquiring a second home in the center of Europe. Georg Singer, CEO of Luxury Investments Ltd. says, “Despite the present tension in real estate markets we are recognizing an unexpected number of requests for high end properties. Demand is often outstripping supply”.

Especially locations like Kitzbühel, two hours west of Salzburg, have seen an astonishing real estate boom, with wealthy Russian individuals buying Villas, Chalets and Luxury Apartments. Moscow’s major Yuri Luzhkov is an unofficial owner of a luxurious property in Kitzbühel. Roman Abramovich, billionaire and owner of London’s Chelsea Football club, has shown an interest in a €15 million estate in the Salzburger Land region with 24,000 square metres of land.

Luxury Investments is very confident that EliteAlps.com will be a huge success, as the small country, that everybody outside of Austria connects with “Sound of Music” is famous for its unique combination of quality cultural offerings, tradition and unspoiled landscapes. Austria is located right in the center of Europe, three hours from Prague, one hour to Bratislava, one hour to Munich, 2.5 hours to Venice, 1.5 to Zurich. Living in Vienna, till 1918 the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now global music capital, means going to the world famous Vienna Opera House in the evening or enjoying the “New Year´s Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic” at Jan 1st each year, which is broadcasted to more than 50 countries and over two billion people. A three hour drive west of Vienna is Salzburg, the birth place of Mozart, scenery for “Sound of Music” in the 1960s and mostly well known for hosting the “Salzburg Festival” each year attracting thousands of celebrities from all over the world due to its world class program of classical music, opera and theatre. That Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Austria, as well as “Red Bull”, the energy drink, was founded there, is also contributing to Austria´s ongoing popularity and one of Luxury Investment´s bet on good business.

For additional information on the news that is subject of this release, contact Christina Tagel, (+44 203 239 3215) or visit www.elitealps.com.

Waterfront Dubai

Balli Real Estate Ltd, the UK and UAE based investor-developer, have launched their new website to showcase the company’s brand, services and its $3.5 billion property investment and property portfolio on the internet.

Built using a mixture of HTML and Flash Shockwave programmes, the new website is designed to be simple, stylish and easy to navigate. It sets out the company’s vision through a mixture of images and editorial contained in five main sections, complete with a series of sub-navigation drop down pages.

The new website provides a review of Balli Real Estate’s four core activities: fund management, joint venture developments, direct developments and bulk purchase investment.

Drawing on a series of panoramic images, the website explains how Balli Real Estate is involved in some of the most exciting and prestigious real estate projects in the world.

Balli Real Estate currently has a property portfolio of over $3 billion, comprised of more than 900,000 square feet of property under development with a Gross Development Value (GDV) of $800 million, and an additional 2 million square feet and a GDV of almost $2.5 billion in the pipeline.

The company operates in the UK and UAE and the Balli property portfolio includes four major residential and mixed use projects in Dubai providing a combined total of more than 1000 luxury residences.

The website contains details of the company’s senior management team including Vahid Alaghband, group chairman, Hassan Alaghband, Director, and Group Finance Director, David Spriddell. It also features testimonials from some of the company’s professional advisors and partners, including Sunland Group, CB Richard Ellis, Bank of Scotland Corporate and Forsters LLP.

As part of Balli’s focus on customer service, the website has a special password protected information centre for clients, enabling them to gain access to development brochures, investment documents, development floorplans and legal contracts wherever they are in the world.

The website also has a careers and recruitment section, setting out Balli’s employment opportunities, as well as an interactive press centre which enables journalists to download press information and imagery and make enquiries.

Vahid Alaghband, Group Chairman of Balli comments: “Over 60% of potential purchasers looking for property use the internet as their primary research tool. We therefore felt it essential that we created a property specific website to complement our existing Group corporate website.”

The website was designed and produced by TTA Group, a specialist property marketing consultancy, part of PR market leader Chime Communications plc.

Balli Real Estate

Cityscape USA is pleased to announce a growing roster of influential speakers and exhibitors for its premiere real estate event in the United States. New exhibitors include Toll Brothers, USA, NCC Urban, India, Aldar Properties, UAE, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and the Panamanian Ministry of Economics and Finance, Panama. Cityscape USA is an unprecedented opportunity for real estate industry professionals to network with some of the biggest names in the business, with an emphasis on market leaders from the emerging world.

The three-day conference and two-day networking exhibition will showcase investment opportunities in emerging real estate markets including Asia, The Middle East and Latin America. It has attracted top American and international market leaders, architects, designers and consultants in the real estate industry.

“With the globalization of real estate, interest in US and emerging markets development has grown exponentially. Cityscape promises to be the catalyst for leaders from these global sectors to network and learn about new investment opportunities,” says Harvey Green, President, Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services. Green is moderating the opening keynote presentation on September 11th on “Where the US real estate market is heading”. Top market leaders — including Robert Bach, Senior Vice President & Chief Economist, Grubb & Ellis Co., will join him on the panel.

Participants include NCC Urban, which is a subsidiary of Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd and a development leader in emerging markets. NCC Urban projects range from residential and commercial complexes, townships, special economic zones (SEZs) and serviced apartment complexes. On the governmental side, The Panamanian Ministry of Economics and Finance (MEF) will be in attendance. MEF is charged with handling all state-owned property in Panama and has many large-scale projects planned, including expansion of the Panama Canal. A U.S. participant, Toll Brothers, is an award-winning builder of luxury communities with a focus on preserving natural environments.

Cityscape USA has attracted support from major industry firms including investment sponsor, Dubai-based Nakheel; platinum sponsor, US-based CityCenter; as well as silver sponsors US-based ING Real Estate, Savannah, and Capri Capital Partners.

For more information please visit: http://www.cityscape-usa.com

Ritz Carlton, Washington DC

Short sales occur in all neighborhoods. You can find them for under $100,000 to well over $5,000,000. Even the famous Ritz Carlton in Washington DC has experienced short sales. Homes from Bethesda MD, Potomac MD and high end communities throughout the Washington DC Metro area are experiencing short sales and foreclosures.

In today’s tough market ordinary homeowners are finding themselves stuck with ballooning and unaffordable mortgages. Facing a buyer’s market and an upside down mortgage, many homeowners turn to short sales, even in the luxury real estate market.

A short sale (pre-foreclosure) is a real estate transaction that nets less than the amount of debt owed on a property. In other words, an owner sells his/her home for less than the mortgage they owe on it.

Why would someone consider a short sale?

1.    Will or have already fallen behind on mortgage payments
2.    They are facing foreclosure.
3.    Divorce or death of a spouse.
4.    Sudden disability
5.    Immediate and pressing need to relocate.

Marc Cormier, a Realtor with The Tania Ivey Real Estate Team and owner of www.help34.com closes more short sales in an average month than most realtors have done in their entire career. Mr. Cormier closed 3 short sales in a 2 week period in June 2008 alone, . Cormier offers the following advice for those considering a short sale.

1. Determine the value of your home. Don’t take any guesses with this one and don’t overestimate the value of your home. Play it safe, get an appraiser or real estate agent to determine the true value of your home.

2. Determine the costs of selling your home. Make sure you include all closing costs, necessary repairs and any agent or broker fees.

3. Determine what you may be able to sell the house for TODAY at a fire sale price.. Work with a Realtor to determine what range the other homes in your area are selling for and how your property fits into that picture.

4. Most importantly, work with an agent who has a track record of closing short sales. Ask the agent what experience they have and make them prove it.

If you find that the amount that buyers are willing to pay for your home is less than what you owe on your mortgage you may be a good candidate for a short sale.

“When I was closing the short sale at the Ritz Carlton in Washington DC, I was faced with 3 mortgages, past due condo fees and tax liens; but because I was able to prove that the short sale would benefit the bank, I was able to stop the foreclosure and get the entire deal done from start to finish in 28 days!” Cormier says. “Having a knowledgeable and savvy Realtor is essential to negotiating the short sale process with a bank,” he adds.

Whatever you do make sure that you don’t wait too long to explore you short sale opportunities. If your adjustable rate mortgage is resetting soon or you experience a job loss or other financial trouble, don’t wait. As soon as you see any trouble on the horizon, act immediately.

Negotiating A Short Sale

Any bank that wants to remain in business tries to avoid taking a loss on the homes they finance. So how do you a bank to take a loss on your property?

1.    Prove to the bank that the property cannot sell for a price that would cover the amount you owe on the mortgage.

2.    Work with an agent to help you gather the evidence you need to show that the bank would lose money on this property if they foreclosed.

“If you want to improve the chances of your bank accepting a short sale you ultimately need to prove that a foreclosure on the property is imminent,” says Keith Kelly, the host of a Sunday Morning talk show that discusses short sales and short refinance on 570 AM 8 am and on 1260 AM Wednesday from 6-7PM in the Washington DC metro area.

Whatever agreement you make with the bank regarding the short sale of your property you need to do two things.

1.Make sure you get it in writing!

2.Make sure that they forgive the difference between what you owe and what you sold the property for.

3.And for a purely educational standpoint visit www.Help34.com. I have yet to see a better, more practical site regarding short sales.

When you short sale your home, it is a slight mark against your credit; but remember it’s much better than a foreclosure or bankruptcy.

“There is a popular misconception that homes sold through a short sale are “ugly” that couldn’t be further from the truth. Homes in every neighborhood and every price range are being sold using a short sale. In our area they range up to $5,000,000 for a single family home. Imagine the discount a buyer of a 5 million dollar home will see” says Mr. Cormier.

Help34.com

Donald Trump Jr.

Late last November, Donald Trump Jr. – the son of the brash American real estate tycoon and reality-TV star – appeared at the high-profile Cityscape India 2007 real estate conference in Mumbai to give a speech on the subcontinent’s booming property market.

Trump, the executive vice president of development and acquisitions at New York-based Trump Organization USA LLC, said India’s red-hot economy has fueled demand for more residential development, particularly luxury housing, but also hotels and resorts for the country’s flourishing tourism industry.

Before he departed, Trump indicated his desire to invest in India’s real estate sector, and hinted that he wouldn’t wait long to do so. “We feel it is now time to invest in Indian realty projects as the quality has moved up and we see emergence of some high-end developers with a product level that will support our brand,” he said in his speech.

It appears that time is now: Trump announced in late July that he intends to set up a hedge fund worth up to $1 billion to invest in Indian real estate.

Accordingly, the privately held fund would initially target property in Mumbai and also include an Indian family as investors. Thirty year-old Trump did not give specific details about the fund, such as how he plans to raise the money, or where the first investment would be made. But in an interview with New York-based media company Bloomberg LP, he did say that it would start conservatively and expand as the opportunities presented themselves.

“The fund will be for acquisitions of real estate in the high end and across the spectrum,” Trump said. “We’ll start it off relatively small and grow it as we get more familiar with the Indian market. Our entry has to be in Mumbai, and that’s where everything is going on right now in terms of the high-end real estate. That’s the place where one is going to achieve the highest prices per square foot. It sets the tone for all of the other future developments.”

Trump eschews investing in India’s smaller and less-affluent cities – he stated publicly at Cityscape India 2007 that he has no intention of entering the middle- or low-income segment because “the best is in the high-end sector.” When asked at the conference which cities Trump Organization would consider for business deals, Trump responded, “Certainly, the city I’m standing on (Mumbai), Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore, where the IT sector has witnessed a boom.”

India’s personal wealth has exploded in recent years. According to the World Wealth Report 2008, issued June 24 by New York-based financial giant Merrill Lynch & Co. and Paris-based consulting firm Cap Gemini SA, the number of Indians with financial assets in excess of $1 million grew by nearly 23 percent in 2007 alone, surpassing China’s 20 percent growth and Brazil’s 19 percent increase.

“India led the world in [high-net-wealth individuals] population growth at 22.7 percent, driven by market capitalization growth of 118 percent and real [gross domestic product] growth of 7.9 percent. Although India’s real GDP growth decelerated from 9.4 percent in 2006, current levels are considered more stable and sustainable. India’s two largest exchanges – the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange – ranked among the world’s top 12 exchanges by end of 2007, boosted by initial public offering markets and heightened international interest,” the report stated.

In an effort to tap this local wealth, Trump Organization is moving forward with plans to build a luxury residential and hotel project in Mumbai, announced last year. The company picked this west-central coastal city of 13 million because of its status as an international center of commerce and India’s commercial and entertainment center: Mumbai generates some 5 percent of India’s gross domestic product and accounts for nearly one-quarter of its industrial output.

It is also home to such important financial institutions as the Reserve Bank of India, the Bombay Stock Exchange, the National Stock Exchange of India and the corporate headquarters of many of India’s largest companies and numerous multinational corporations.

Yet, Trump will also be entering India at a time when rising inflation has nudged borrowing costs to their highest levels since 2002, effectively curbing the country’s five-year property boom and sending valuations for many projects downward. Nationwide, inflation rose 11.98 percent in the year ending July 19, which prompted the Reserve Bank of India to issue new policies aimed at curbing the trend. Still, interest rates on home loans have continued to creep upward by 1-to-1.5 percentage points, from around 10.5 percent to 12 percent annually. Many analysts expect inflation to remain at current levels, if not higher.

“We expect headline inflation to possibly cross 13 percent levels. With inflation likely to remain in the double-digit range for the next few months and supply-side measures not really being effective in bringing inflation down, we expect the Reserve Bank of India to continue to raise rates to temper demand-side pressure,” Citigroup India economists Rohini Malkani and Anushka Shah said in a July research note.

The younger Trump’s plans to launch the $1 billion Indian real estate fund reflects Trump Organization’s push to expand globally. The privately held company – which does business in a variety of real estate sectors, including residential properties, hotels, office, golf clubs, as well as gaming and merchandising entertainment – plans to develop a pair of mixed-use projects in Istanbul, Turkey, and Dubai. The Istanbul project, which Trump Organization announced in April, will consist of two towers and a luxury shopping center, while in Dubai, the company has partnered with local developer Al Nakheel Properties to build the $600 million, 62-story Palm Trump International Hotel & Tower on the trunk of the Palm Jumeirah.

One of the world’s most recognizable manmade landmarks, Palm Jumeirah, an artificial island shaped like a palm tree off the Dubai coast. It was built by Nakheel and is owned by the Emirate government. Trump Organization already has properties in Dominion Republic, Seoul, Toronto, Panama, and Mexico.

If the company succeeds with its plans for India, it will joint various other real estate and financial-services firms that in recent years have invested vast sums of money in the Indian property market. The list includes:

Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners LP, which recently invested $175 million in a Mumbai real estate development that is being built by Gurgaon-based construction firm Unitech Ltd., and is in talks with Unitech to invest an additional $525 million in the project.

RREEF India Advisors Pvt. Ltd., an India-specific alternative-investments business launched in April by Deutsche Bank AG’s New York-based alt-investments subsidiary, RREEF Alternative Investments. Headquartered in Mumbai, RREEF India Advisors plans to invest $1 billion in Indian real estate and infrastructure projects over the next three years, beginning with a 31-acre, $400 million mixed-use development outside of Hyderabad.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., which acquired a 4-percent stake in New Delhi-based real estate developer BPTP Ltd. earlier this month for $60 million. The New York-based financial giant previously invested in Lodha Group, a Mumbai-based commercial real estate developer.

Source

Top of the list of desires is a Private Island location with being near a beach being more than double in demand than any other location for a second home. High-End Homeowners Still Aspire for a Dream Home; 17 Percent Have Considered Moving to Obtain a Specific Zip Code and 85 Percent Expect Home Prices to Increase Over Next Five Years.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. (July 24, 2008) – Homeowners at the highest end of the real estate market still have a dream house in mind and zip code does play a factor in where some call home, according to the 2008 Coldwell Banker Previews International® Luxury Survey. Top locations for a dream home among those surveyed were on an island (27 percent) or in a rural country setting (22 percent), followed by the suburbs (18 percent) or an international destination (18 percent). Additionally, 17 percent of those surveyed confirmed that they have considered moving expressly to obtain a specific address or zip code. Eight percent of respondents actually admitted to having been influenced to purchase a property to “keep up” with friends or family.

In addition, high-end homeowners remain optimistic about home values with a strong majority of the affluent homeowners surveyed (85 percent) expecting the price of their homes to increase over the next five years, a sharp increase from the 66 percent tallied in the 2007 survey. In addition, four out of five of these homeowners surveyed believe the increase in value will be “significant” to “moderate” (81 percent).

“Key findings from our annual survey of the luxury market demonstrate that the typical million-dollar homeowner is invested not only in the value of their home as a current part of their portfolios, but also see long-term gains coming from this investment,” said Jim Gillespie, president and chief executive officer, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “Interestingly while 44 percent of those surveyed indicated that they plan to stay in their primary residence for at least 10 years, they also dream of owning the perfect home.”

The 2008 Coldwell Banker Previews International Luxury Survey polled 305 U.S. homeowners whose primary residence is valued at over $1 million ($2 million for California residents*) and who have investable assets of more than $1 million. The average annual household income of the 2008 luxury survey’s respondents is $754,000.

Second Homes and the Lure of the Beach

The survey revealed that about half of the affluent homeowners surveyed (48 percent) own at least one secondary residence. Most of these properties are located in beach areas (45 percent). For those who own second homes, significantly more men than women cited that the primary purpose of the residence was a retirement property (17 percent versus 8 percent).

Interestingly, a significantly greater percentage of older respondents (ages 65-plus) said they are considering purchasing an additional property as a new primary residence (42 percent versus 19 percent of respondents ages 64 and younger).

“Must Have” Luxury Amenities

Whether inside or outside, “must have” luxury amenities such as designer kitchens, formal landscaping, water views, customized home entertainment centers and swimming pools are the top amenities of choice for luxury homeowners.

“High-end kitchens, a well-kept appearance outside of the home, and swimming pools have become the standard for luxury homeowners,” said Gillespie. “These areas of the home attract attention and have long been critical factors when considering the value of a property.”

Formal landscaping was, by far, the amenity mentioned most often by respondents as something they currently have surrounding their primary residence (77 percent).

Relative to maintaining luxury homes, those surveyed indicated that landscapers (95 percent) and housekeepers (62 percent) were a must. Of note, housekeepers were significantly more common among those ages 54 and younger (72 percent versus 55 percent of those ages 55-plus).

Best In Show

Approximately three in 10 respondents have specific rooms in their homes that are used to impress houseguests (29 percent). Among these respondents, the living room (72 percent) is the primary room that is used to impress houseguests. Only one in 10 or fewer respondents said any other rooms in their homes are used to impress.

The survey was conducted online by independent market research firm, ICR, in April 2008 and commissioned by Coldwell Banker Previews International®, the exclusive Coldwell Banker® service dedicated to luxury real estate. In 2007, the Coldwell Banker system participated in more than 25,000 transaction sides of homes priced at $1 million or more in 2007 with a total sales volume of $46.6 billion.

* The survey questioned 305 owners of homes with a primary residence valued at greater than $1,000,000 and investable assets greater than $1,000,000. The survey questioned owners of homes valued at $2 million and up in the state of California. This was done because, according to the California Association of Realtors, the existing-home median price in the state is $403,870, compared with the national existing-home median price of $202,300 (as of April 2008, according to the National Association of Realtors).

About ICR
ICR is a full-service market research firm specializing in designing customized methodologies across 12 industry sectors and a leading provider of omnibus research services. Our Advanced Research Methods group designs and executes custom research and solutions to complex business challenges on a wide range of issues, including global research in over 90 countries.

About Coldwell Banker Previews International
The Coldwell Banker Previews InternationalÒ program has been marketing luxury homes since 1933. This luxury home marketing program has been exclusive to Coldwell BankerÒ affiliates since 1980. The exclusive group of certified Previews® Sales Associates make up only 10 percent of the more than 111,000 Coldwell Banker sales associates worldwide. Coldwell Banker became one of the first national residential real estate brands to launch a second Web site totally dedicated to the luxury real estate market. The Web site www.coldwellbankerpreviews.com features more than 15,000 luxury properties with an average listing price of over $1.8 million.

About Coldwell Banker®
Since 1906, the Coldwell Banker® organization has been a premier full-service real estate provider. In 2007, Franchise Times magazine’s prestigious Top 200 issue ranked the Coldwell Banker system No. 1 in real estate for the eighth straight year and 12th among franchisors in all industries. The Coldwell Banker System has approximately 3,600 residential real estate offices and 111,500 sales associates in 47 countries and territories. The Coldwell Banker System is a leader in the industry in residential and commercial real estate, and in niche markets such as resort, new home and luxury property through its Coldwell Banker Previews International® division. It is a pioneer in consumer services with its Coldwell Banker Concierge® Service Program and award-winning Web site, www.coldwellbanker.com. Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services. Coldwell Banker® is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. Each office is independently owned and operated

NEW YORK & MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 22, 2008–NYTimes.com and LinkedIn announced today a strategic relationship that will give LinkedIn members a more focused and personalized experience on the Business and Technology pages of NYTimes.com. This relationship pairs two strong online brands that share a professional and engaged audience.

Under the terms of the agreement, LinkedIn users will now have news relevant to their professional industries recommended to them on the Business and Technology pages of NYTimes.com. A targeted headline feature will highlight the five latest Times articles for LinkedIn members based on their non-personally identifiable attributes. For example, LinkedIn members who work in the energy sector will have the option to receive relevant, targeted Times stories that cover the energy business.
Times readers will also be able to share and discuss stories with LinkedIn members in their networks. This feature will be incorporated into the share tool on all article pages of NYTimes.com.

“Working with LinkedIn, we have created a program that will provide readers of our Business and Technology sections with a more relevant and customized experience,” said Vivian Schiller, senior vice president and general manager, NYTimes.com. “This relationship will further our engagement with our large audience of professionals, executive decision makers and small-business employees.”
“This relationship is one of the many steps LinkedIn has taken to provide its network of members with all the information they need to stay ahead in their careers,” said Patrick Crane, vice president of marketing for LinkedIn. “With the LinkedIn-NYTimes.com integration, not only will our users be able to get the news, they will now see the news that is professionally relevant to them.”

Through this relationship, advertisers will be able to extend their targeting capabilities to more Times readers than currently available through the NYTimes.com registration process. Readers will have even better access to useful news and information, while advertisers will have a greater opportunity to speak more directly to important audiences.

“Both NYTimes.com and LinkedIn are leaders in targeting. This relationship expands NYTimes.com’s targeting capability and creates a powerful incentive for advertisers to leverage LinkedIn’s and NYTimes.com’s combined reach of the business community,” said Denise Warren, senior vice president and chief advertising officer, The New York Times Media Group. “Advertisers are constantly looking for context, content and quality brands and this approach delivers just that.”

This agreement upholds both companies’ commitment to protecting their members’ registration data. The non-personally identifiable data available to NYTimes.com from LinkedIn includes industry, job function, seniority, company size, gender and geography. Neither LinkedIn nor NYTimes.com will share any personally identifiable information. Readers will have the option to opt-out of this program. More information on this program can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/linkedin.

According to Nielsen Online, NYTimes.com had 17.7 million unique visitors in June and was the No. 1 newspaper Web site in the United States, a position it has long held.
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with nearly 25 million members and growing by more than one million members every month.

More details can be viewed on the LinkedIn blog.

Screen shots of the new headline feature and the addition of LinkedIn to NYTimes.com’s share tool are available on the press image section of The New York Times.

Source - The New York Times Company

Speaking during the media tour Mr. Arif Alharmi, Chief Executive Officer, Amlak Finance PJSC, said, “This is a unique address brought by Amlak to all our customers, a one of its kind ready to move in development to be completely designed by Fendi Casa. The tower consists of spacious contemporary apartments of different sizes to suit individual requirements, intertwined with exquisite gardens and plenty of open spaces.”

The residences, ranging from a studio, one, two bedrooms, duplexes and penthouses have spectacular views of Emirates Towers, The Gate and Burj Dubai. There are a total of around 500 units with five typical floor layouts. Adding to this there are five exquisite gardens, each with their own distinct character, lighting, and design.

Alharmi added, “We will soon be retailing the units in the UAE as well as international financial centers that are of strategic importance to DIFC such as London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Germany. We will offer competitive financing packages to our customers who are interested to invest in Skygardens”

The deluxe 39-floor tower, developed by Mazaya Real Estate, is the first residential building to anchor the DIFC and includes extensive landscaping with park-like environment as well as unparalleled luxury lifestyle. Skygardens is located south of the Gate and Emirates Towers, our most prestigious neighbors and moments drive from Sheikh Zayed Road and Emirates road connecting Dubai with all other emirates.

If any luxury real estate agents out there are kicking themselves for not getting involved in the sale of property in Dubai, the latest news from “Dubai Properties” may be another reminder that there are still opportunities in Dubai. The building is an 8-story, mixed use building offering 11,754 sq. meters of commercial space, 2,116 sq. meters of residential space, with plans for 17 retail outlets, 53 offices, and 17 one-bedroom apartments.

The record achievement follows Dubai Properties’ successful sale of other floors and units of the same and of several other projects since Cityscape Dubai in 2007, the region’s largest regional business-to-business property investment and development event.

The remaining buildings within the five million square feet “new-age community project” (not sure what that is supposed to mean) will be listed for sale throughout 2008.

Bay Square will eventually comprise thirteen mixed use buildings, including a boutique hotel with a ‘downtown setting’ and a residential tower. The remaining eleven buildings will include mixed-use projects featuring commercial and retail space, terraced apartments and two stories of rooftop apartments.

Bay Square will also be a pedestrian-only zone,  and the development is scheduled for completion by end-2009.

Executives from Shaikh Holdings, Leisurecorp, Arabtec, DSA International, Hirsch Bedner Associates, Scavolini, Quintessentially and Archimedia attended the momentous event.

“Today we have reached a significant milestone for Sanctuary Falls and the creation of a truly unique residential golf community for Dubai. We are all very excited on this auspicious occasion as we move one step closer towards the realization of the Sanctuary Falls dream. We are glad to share this moment with all our partners who have worked hard to make this community a great success.” said Imran Shaikh, CEO, Shaikh Holdings.

“When we stand here, we look at how the Shaikh family have stood behind their project, and have been emblematic of everything that we stand for. We believe that we have chosen a partner who reflects the spirit of Leisurecorp and reflects the spirit of Jumeirah Golf. Perhaps, more importantly, they reflect the spirit of everything that is good about Dubai and what Dubai stands for, which is ‘The race for quality knows no finish line’, in the words of His Highness.” said David Spencer, CEO, Leisurecorp.

The ceremony was complemented by a site tour of Sanctuary Falls, where the executives also got a chance to view the significant development progress taking place on the Earth golf course. The Earth course designed by Greg Norman was recently announced as the chosen venue for the richest golf tournament in the world, the Dubai World Championship.

Mr. Spencer added: ‘When I look out here, with our team, where we are standing now is the Earth golf course, which is going to be the home of the first ever Dubai World Championship. This is a very special part of the fabric of Dubai and what will be the future of Dubai.”

The Sanctuary Falls community, situated in Jumeirah Golf
features a collection of 96 resort-style villas overlooking the Earth golf course, designed by Greg Norman. With the Earth course as host venue for the inaugural Dubai World Championship, Sanctuary Falls will not only offer high value luxury homes overlooking the Earth course but will provide a life-time experience for residents to witness the world’s richest Golf tournament.

“A decade ago Dubai was a fledgling city with two golf courses. However, in a very short span Dubai has radically progressed to become one of the top international golfing destinations in the world. With the announcement of the Dubai World championship being held next year at Jumeirah Golf estates, Dubai’s profile will get a significant boost around the world. As developers of Sanctuary Falls, we are proud to be a part of Jumeirah Golf Estates and to be in the midst of history in the making,” said Mr. Shaikh.

Shaikh Holdings holds a significant portfolio of residential, commercial and hospitality real estate and has been a leading institutional investor in the Dubai real estate market since 2002. Shaikh Holdings is focused on developing themed boutique communities across the region, many centred around golf and waterfront concepts.