MERED Talks Podcast

What Makes Someone Buy Property Without Planning To?

• MERED • Season 1 • Episode 13

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 45:25

What turns a buyer into a brand ambassador?


In this episode of MERED Talks, our host Harley Jenner is joined by Michael Belton, CEO of MERED, and Lorenzo Semaratne, a global energy executive, classic Ferrari enthusiast, and owner of apartments in both ICONIC and Riviera Residences.


This conversation reveals what separates genuine quality from surface glitz, how developers build community through people rather than marketing, and why the UAE has become home to successful global citizens seeking security, lifestyle, and the freedom to enjoy their achievements.


🎧 Hit play to discover:

ʉۢ The unexpected decision to buy an apartment after a coffee meeting

ʉۢ Why savouring the fruits of your labour is becoming a luxury in itself

ʉۢ Why quality is found in door hinges, not marketing promises

ʉۢ How Pininfarina's philosophy is embodied in ICONIC Residences: design versus licensing

ʉۢ What MERED's 40% repeat buyer rate and zero resales reveal about customer satisfaction


🎥 Listen to the full episode to understand what makes some projects timeless investments and others disposable trends. 


#MEREDTalks #MERED #RealEstatePodcast #DubaiPodcast #ICONICResidences #RivieraResidences #LuxuryRealEstate #PropertyInvestment #DubaiLifestyle

MERED website: https://mered.ae
MERED on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mered.ae/
MERED on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mered-ae/

SPEAKER_01

But the first time you came to Merritt's office, you ended up walking out as the owner of an apartment in Iconic Residences.

SPEAKER_03

One of the things I really that sounds silly, I really like is you can have your morning shower and you can be just looking straight across to the palm.

SPEAKER_01

Many developers talk about quality, and it is a word that's used everywhere nowadays. But how does Merritt approach it differently?

SPEAKER_00

Quality is is one of the pillars that we implement in every state of the project. So from the selection of the architect, the approval of the brief, to picking the right contractor to build the project.

SPEAKER_03

Which is the reason why I introduced my friends and they didn't believe me then. So I was like, come on, I'll show you it. And uh two of them both.

SPEAKER_00

We have not had one person that bought our project and has resold, not one.

SPEAKER_01

How does Merid craft the lifestyle that its buildings enable? Welcome back to the Merid Talks Podcast. I'm your host, Harley Jenner, and in every episode we go beyond property to explore how great people and bold ideas design the way we live, work, and connect. Today I'm joined as usual by two wonderful people. The first to join us is Michael Belton. With more than 30 years of experience in global real estate, he has managed over $5 billion worth of assets across the US, Europe, and the Middle East. Today, as CEO of Merid, Michael is driving the company's expansion across the UAE and the wider GCC. Our next guest is Lorenzo Samaretni. Lorenzo is a senior energy and commodities market executive with a 20-year career in global energy data and analytics sector. Beyond business, he's a passionate car enthusiast with a collection of classic Ferraris and someone who describes himself with the Italian word buon Gustavo, a person who is a true connoisseur of the finer things in life. Thank you for being here today, Lorenzo.

SPEAKER_03

My pleasure.

SPEAKER_01

So today's episode of Meredith Talks is slightly different. We are usually joined by industry experts. But today you'll be joining us from the other side of the journey as a buyer. So Lorenzo has bought apartments in iconic residences as well as Riviera residences, and he has also convinced many of his friends to buy in Merit's project. So today's conversation will focus on what turns a buyer into a brand ambassador. So you grew up in the UK and Italy, and you've also travelled around quite often as well. What made you decide to settle down for now in Dubai in the UAE?

SPEAKER_03

So I, for my sins, I spent probably 25 years on a plane.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

I ran a global sales team, so I was literally everywhere. There isn't a continent I haven't been to, that's for sure. Um unless you caught the Antarctic, haven't been there. Um and the answers is well, it's a common nature of things. It's it's the safety, the cleanness, the people that are here, it's truly, it's it's truly cosmopolitan. And every week there's more, even now, more people are coming over. It's also really conveniently located. I'm pretty much halfway anywhere. If I want to go to Asia, I'm halfway there. If I want to go back to Europe, it's you know, it's it's it's sort of it's very central, it's perfect. And I still involved in business, so as a time zone, I can wake up in the morning and talk to Singapore or Hong Kong. Australia's a bit of a pain. That's pain everywhere. Or, you know, spend a bit more time in the evening, I talk to the US. So it uh it's located both conveniently for travel, for business, and the environment. It's great, and it's you know one of the few countries left that you can actually enjoy the fruits of your labour without being demonized as some kind of evil catalyst. I can drive whatever I like, wear whatever I like, not worry about being mugged, we enjoy it. There's only realistically speaking, there's only Singapore, Monaco, and Dubai, Abu Dhabi, that you can actually live and enjoy the life you've created for yourself and your family without having to look over your shoulder. And it's a big thing, you know. If my wife wants to take an Uber at three in the morning because she's in a nightclub, I wouldn't bet an eye either. People would be asleep at home. Couldn't say that anywhere else apart from those other two countries.

SPEAKER_01

Great.

SPEAKER_03

So it's a combination of things.

SPEAKER_01

So, Lorenzo, the first time you came to Merritt's office, it was to see Michael, who was the newly appointed CEO. And you ended up walking out as the owner of an apartment in Riviera in iconic residences.

SPEAKER_03

True. I came to have a chat, uh, see each other for a while and just catch up over a coffee. And um, yeah, I left as the owner of an apartment. Interesting journey, uh completely unexpected. Uh, and I'm not generally uh someone that is spontaneous when it comes to spending that kind of money. I normally think things through, but it all made sense, and so we just did it on the day.

SPEAKER_01

So, what happened? You came to Mered, you saw the show flat.

SPEAKER_03

Came to Meredith. Mike showed me the the show flat, uh just just talking about the show flat, and I was looking at the quality and just looking at the views, and I said, Oh, I've got to have one a bit well, okay. And I think it was a flippant okay because it I don't think he took me seriously. And I went, no, no, I I want one. He's like okay. And and then he introduced me to Oscar, and then yes, it was done.

SPEAKER_00

One one bit I would like to add, it's kind of on the end of that. When Lorenzo went into the the show flat the first time with me, I had this impression that he was kind of like reliving I can't say it's his childhood, but maybe it's his late teenage years, or maybe his early 20s when he had that first luxury car um because he just kind of melted into the experience. And you have a deja vu. I think he was experiencing something like a deja vu when he walked into the show flat. And it's the same thing when you get a new car. When you get that new car, you have that new car smell. There was something for me that Lorenzo got that new car smell when he went back into the show flat.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, but the answer is actually, you know, you you you Dubai has an image. You have an image in your head of what living in Dubai looks like. Um when I walked in and saw the view, that's what it triggered. It triggered, ah, this is what I've been looking for in terms of right, the design's great, but now I can get that view, and that's what I'm gonna wake up to. And that's what Dubai living meant to me. It didn't mean living, sorry, up in the middle of nowhere with a view of the sand. I wanted to see the sea. Uh and the palms are an iconic view. Got to see the palm. So uh yeah, you're right. It triggered the ticked all the boxes. This is, you know, it was I I want this because it is what I want, it's how I want to live. And the same's true with the Riviera, it's like, ah, I'm on the sea. It's how you envisage when you come here, someone like me, of what life is should look like when you're here. It shouldn't mean me stuck in the middle of a little villa in the middle of nowhere. No, no, I want to be, I want to be next to the water, I want to have this view. It's it it triggers that. The first Ferrari you buy, you know, your your kids, all the dreams you you you've you ever had, and you all the little quirks that you've always wanted it, and yes, I can have it. It's mine now. It's that kind of feeling, you're right.

SPEAKER_01

And that must have been very convincing because you said for many years that you didn't want to buy property in the UAE.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I came here five years ago and um I couldn't put my head around it. Didn't quite nothing actually jolt. Um, and then when we were walking around and I'm just looking at well, it wasn't in the cells, I bought it, no one sold me anything, which is you know, probably clear. Uh took me around, the views, this the whole style just felt right for me. Uh what I like. And in terms of the quality, it just looked great. I mean, I quizzed him about is it going to be the same? He said no, probably better. So things like that made me happy.

SPEAKER_01

That's exactly what you want to hear.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Because we've had I've mentioned it before you know in passing that quality is is is is really hard to find here. Good quality, and there's lots of whether it's a car, whether it's whatever, there's a lot of surface glitz and glamour, but when you scratch a little bit below the surface, there's lots of filler and fake stuff. Yeah. So yeah, that was a really nice journey.

SPEAKER_01

Great. Michael, from your side, what do you think Merit does differently that enables a buyer to make a decision so quickly to purchase a property?

SPEAKER_00

Well, I think every buyer is is is different. Um, Lorenzo's case um was completely unexpected for me as well. Um, I've known Lorenzo over, I think, 10, 10, 12 years, um, from his uh his his gas trading days to moving to Dubai. And we've casually gone out to restaurants, had uh social events together. And when I invited him to the office and took him to the show flat, he was like a kid in a candy store. And um now looking back at that, when I follow started following Lorenzo on Instagram, every post of his is one of his cars, whether it's a Ferrari or a Bentley or a Maserati or whatever they are, there's there's lots of them, I can tell you. So when he came into the to the show flat, I just got out of his way because he knew the design lines from which car was this from. Um when he was you know caressing the marble um in the living room.

SPEAKER_03

I think it was the kitchen, it was the green and the with the with the with the gold, it was the kitchen that I was caressing, to be clear.

SPEAKER_00

You were you were caressing and uh he was admiring how the different materials were coming together, whether it was the the stone with the metal, with the wood. Um I think the size of the units was uh was impressive to him. So I didn't have to sell, and he's a friend of mine. I wasn't trying to to sell him, but I just really just got out of his way and let him go. And I think he has a lot of the the energy that we wanted to tap into when when Mered came to the UAE. Where people come here who are affluent, they have good taste. Um, it's good taste in wine, it's good taste in cars, good taste in the people that they associate with. So, but what's lacking really here is quality. So when you can put those ingredients together, I think it came up with uh with a recipe that really spoke uh near and dear to Lorenzo's heart.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean I'm I'm I I'm a little bit OCD when it comes to drilling down into quality. So I'm kind of semi-embarrassed to say this, but you know, so I'm looking at things like the hinges of the front door and how they're flush-fitting and how they're the quality, and there's like three of them, it's a heavy door. So I'm trying the door, then I go in the kitchen. And I do the same thing with the drawers because you know you know, if you're there's a big difference in an IKEA kitchen, yeah, it looks great for about 10 minutes, and then you've used it for a couple of weeks and it looks like it's 20 years old. I don't want to go through the pain of redoing the whole interior of an apartment I've just bought. I don't want that. And I've heard, I know many people have bought brand new and then had to gut the kitchens and the bathrooms because the quality is appalling. So I'm playing with the drawers and I'm playing with just just to get a feel for it. And you know, to the point where I look at the grouting and the gaps in between the tiles, it's it's it's the detail. So you can be very flashy and you can you can paint a car and it looks really polished, but after about three months, it can yellow peel, which is a things go quite bad. You look at the gaps in the the tiles, and if uh I mean things like that, and especially if show flat, it's supposed to be it's supposed to show what you're gonna get. So if the show flat is is lacking quality, you know that it's not gonna get any better when they build the real thing. So when I asked, well, will it be this quality? Well, actually, no, because the ceiling heights are higher, and we're gonna have floor to grounds windows as opposed to what you're seeing now. I'm like, oh, so you've even better views. Well, yes. Oh, okay. And then one of the things I really it does sound silly, I really like is I went into the into the main bathroom, the ensuite of the main bedroom. Um, and uh, if you uh close the door and open the shower room door, you get a view straight across to the palm. So you can have your morning shower and you can daydream, and you can be just looking straight across to the palm if that if you have that view. And I'm like, I like that. That's I don't know if you was thought out or just by coincidence, but I thought I could quite happily just look at what in my morning shower.

SPEAKER_00

Lorenzo, I can I can assure you that it's uh purpose on plan, and most of our units have that view throughout the whole building. So it's something it's a feature that we think that it's gonna be one of those Instagram moments that it's gonna be from 70% of all the units have that view.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it's a it's a great view, and it's and it brought a smile to my face because it's like really, you know, you act like a kid, like you said. Like, yeah, but I like the view.

SPEAKER_01

And on the plus side, there will never be a building in front of iconic residences, so there will never be anyone to view you in the shower.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that that I'm not too worried about. I mean, I'll be on the 45th, 40 4501, I think I'm gonna be on. So I'll be okay. But no, I'm glad I'm really glad there won't be anyone in front because it's score the view, which is beautiful.

SPEAKER_01

It is. So, Michael, many developers talk about quality, and it is a word that's used everywhere nowadays. But how does Merit approach it differently?

SPEAKER_00

Well, quality is is one of the pillars that we implement in every state of the of the project. So, from the selection of the architect, the the approval of the brief, it's relaying to our designers what we want to achieve out of the project, and then it moves on to picking the right contractor to build the project. And then, of course, what many developers don't do is they do not pick a good contractor for their interior finishing, which is what everybody feels at the end of the day. So, what brought us to this market um is a lack of quality and our clients telling us we want to have a nicer product. Um, it's what brought us here. And as we build iconic and we build Riviera residences in Abu Dhabi, these are both flagship projects for us. So we will just build upon that. And I think a lot of developers in the market, they have a very different approach to their sales. And their sales is sell everything on day one, you sell it out. But what happens in a market like now, um, we're gonna see inflation and construction costs. So if you started a project and you've sold everything out at prices from a year ago, there you can't save on concrete, you can't save on the glazing, you can't save on much except for the interiors.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

So right now the project is sold at about 70%. We have a year and a half to go to complete it. As the market inflates, we will inflate with it.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Um, and that allows us to really deliver a product um that meets our requirements because we see increases right now um in a lot of things. Everything associated with oil is going to inflate, everything associated with plastic is going to inflate. Getting things here, logistic chains, it makes it more difficult and more expensive. That increases the prices. So anybody who bought into a project a year ago, um, I think they're gonna have problems achieving the quality they want because the developer will not do a project and and lose money on it. And as a as a developer for us, quality, it really shows how we're gonna be different, not only today, but 10 years from now. Because I believe there's there's lots of uh there's lots of developers that came in and had to make um had to or they took the easy the easy decision early on, and now they have a reputation for delivering something that you've got to replace the bathrooms or you've got to replace the kitchens. So these these types of things um hurt them for a long time. Merit, our reputation is neutral and we are writing it. And so when we deliver the keys to our units and iconic, we want all of our buyers to say, yes, we made the right buy with Merit, we love the project, and even our designers, Pen and Farina, are very happy to work with us. And they have lots of developers they work with. We say we're we're their favorite, of course. There can be others, but I would say the way that we approach them, we enhance their design, we encourage them to really deliver this Italian um lifestyle in a project. It it makes us different, and quality is just one of the main pillars of that.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, and Lorenzo, you are a keen car collector. You have a great collection of cars.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01

And you probably know Pin and Farina better than most people. Did this influence your decision to buy in iconic residences designed by Pin and Farina?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Um on a number of different levels, but on a basic level, they are not um, they're not a licensing firm. Okay. They don't just rent out their name for anybody to use because it has a family history that runs deep and it's around design excellence and quality. I mean, I've got a quite a few, luckily, of print for new design cars. One of my favourites is the 612. And what makes it wonderful is that she's now, what I call her she, sorry, she's 20 years old. The older she gets, the better she's aging. Because the quality of that design is such that and people who didn't like it, because there was a there was a time when people found it ugly, are now really turning and going, actually, it does look beautiful, and it makes you smart. And that's what good design is. It's not something that's flashy for one year or two years, it's something that ages really well, and then you know that is it like a quality suit or a well-cut suit, it you don't know if it's one year old or 20 years old, if it's cut well and it's a classic design, it's it's there for life. That's what I think Pelinfarina really is and does. And if you with Michael and the quality element, if you build in the quality from the beginning, it's always going to be a quality product and it will age well. Yeah, there might be a there might be a fashion thing for the interior, but that'll come around as well. You know, if you look at anything, in the 70s colours are back in fashion. So if you happen to have an old 70s house and you've got an avocado bathroom, it was horrible. And now it's like, Well, it's just quite trendy. You know, things come back in fashion if they're if if it's done well. Yeah. So I think Penniferina is is a case in point in terms of their design. Uh Michael with his quality, which is the reason why I mean I I I introduced my friends, uh, they went, Well, you bought the day, but yeah. And they didn't believe me then. So I was like, Come on, I'll show you it. And uh two of them bought. On the back of the same the same rational, and and they are not again, they're not people, they've lived here for 15-20 years, and this was the these these were the first off-plan buildings they've ever bought. Okay, and they've all they've bought one lives in the Palm, the other one used to live in D IFC. They bought, but on the secondary market, not off-plan. And they've been here 15 years, and you know, they ended up buying within a week. They saw it, but they both have wives, so they both have to ask their wives. I don't have to ask pretty much I'm lucky that way. So um, you know, it it just goes to show that if you're like-minded and you like quality and you like design, it's not a hard decision to make.

SPEAKER_01

True. And what was the Pen and Frina design feature that stood out the most for you when you entered the show apartment?

SPEAKER_03

So to me, I don't I don't like square cubist. But if you're in a warehouse building, great, that's perfect. Right? If you if you want to an old warehouse, I love those as well. But you know, after a while, you kind of get bored because you can only rearrange the furniture so many different ways in a cube. It's it's all the curves. The only problem with the curves is that you're gonna have to buy furniture that is also non-squared, but that's okay. But it's it's it's just the shapes. And you know, things like if you look at that, shapes like this, you can get lost in looking at the reflections, you can you it's always slightly different. The light hits it in a different way. So he's teasing me about stroking the the kitchen. Well, yeah, it's to it's to it part of it is to feel the quality, and part of it is to understand the textures, because it's it's all part of the experience of you know, you don't buy a dress and never touch it. You don't it's it it's part of the sensory behavior. If it's you want to feel it and look at it, so you see a curve, your natural instinct is to stroke the curve. I like that's what I like. It's a a flat surface, it's kind of boring. That's why they have feature walls. A feature wall is to disguise it and make it look interesting. Great. So I'll paint it bright red. No. But you know brass line down the middle. Okay. The when you walk in there, I haven't been in there for probably nine months. I remember the cyborg, the the shape. This the the suite, which is reminiscent of a dashboard. Yeah, there's certain elements that you can that are reminiscent of car shapes, dashboards, just general just waves. And that's what makes it different and attractive because you you can get you can spend a lot of time just thinking about oh what could I do with this? So I'm like, mmm. So I need to have the bed because the bed actually works in the main. I don't necessarily need the sofa, but I do need a cursor. So it makes you sort of think about how you're gonna design it. I'm not a big fan of something that looks like a hotel. So if they're 50 units and they're all all the same inside, then I'm in a hotel. I don't want to be in a hotel. If I wanted to live in a hotel, I would. Right? It's you know, there are plenty of you know hotel residences that you can that are all pre-furnished and they all look the same. No you can't you'd be silly to just cut and paste in into that because you could do so much with it.

SPEAKER_01

You know, you it's it's fun. And we'll see in a in a year and a half how you design yours then.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I'm still trying to figure it out.

SPEAKER_01

You have a bit of time at least. Michael, what's the aspect that stood out the most to you?

SPEAKER_00

Of well, in in in general, um, I believe that from the facade to the interiors, we've really encapsulated uh Pen Farina's um essence. Um I have never owned a Ferrari like uh like Lorenzo has, aspiring to do so. He's he's encouraging me.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, you we go.

SPEAKER_00

Um but I I I really think it's probably two features. One in the in the master bathroom, which Lorenzo talked about, about being able to look out through the glass from your shower and see the palm. The second is in the master master bedroom, the way that they have a twisting, curving material that comes down um in the in the bedroom. Everybody looks at that. And I've I've shown the I've shown the unit, I don't know, 60 times, 100 times. I I lost lost count, but everybody pays attention to to this unit, this feature in the master, uh, the master bedroom. And one thing I like to say is that people when they come to Meredith, they they usually buy with us at Merritt, and and probably 60% of all the buyers of of uh iconic have been to my office. I have the same view from my office that we have from the show flat, but I think it shows, again, kind of Merritt's approach, which is probably something Italian to bring people in and to meet them and to greet them and to have a have a cup of coffee and and ask them when you buy this unit, what is it going to be for? It's very important for us to know about the community that we're going to have in the building. And I think it works both ways. The the buyer gets to meet me, um, or some of our salespeople with me in my office, and they get to ask questions about merit. And I think it's very rare. Um, and we've seen 35, 40 percent of our buyers at iconic have bought residences again with us in in Riviera. Yes, and it's just it's just the approach. Um, we've had some times when um people had an offer for more than five days, and we have either the unit's been bought by someone else or the price has been escalated, and people come back and they're upset, and they say, Okay, well, let's we'll find you another unit, we'll we'll we'll make an effort for this. But look at the next project with this, and every time we've done this, a negative turned to a positive because we were able to kind of meet meet in the middle. Um, and I think that that's it's Meredith's way, it's been in Farina's way. Um, it's really what uh what we aspire to do.

SPEAKER_03

I think it's how you create a community, right? Uh my two my friends that they bought here followed me into Riviera as well. And and then they introduce other people because you you like to be surrounded by like-minded people. You you want to be you don't want to live in a gated community, but everyone wants to live in a community where you have similar values, similar likes. Uh it makes life a lot easier. It's it and it I don't know, it's I'm laughing because I think in Riviera uh the three of us have all in the same corner, and there's there's one floor in between each of us because it was a bit we're like, no, we cannot be on top of each other, we cannot do that. So but it's like sort of like a me and them and then him. It's like guys, this is a bit daft, but but it's it just shows that you know even your friends are happy to live in the same block because they want to live there. It's not though we're gonna rent it out. There are some one beds that were bought for that, but the the two bedders we are for us. Yeah, so it it you know, it just means that you know, well, come and have a mile for dinner. Sure, lift, x floor, up you go, down you go. So it's kind of nice.

SPEAKER_01

But the problem you're going to have is whether you decide to live in iconic residences already. Quite easy.

SPEAKER_03

I started in iconic because it finished first, and then I moved to Riviera.

SPEAKER_01

And then you can decide.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I'll pitch whichever one I perfect.

SPEAKER_01

How does working with a brand like Pen and Farina align with uh Merritt's design philosophy?

SPEAKER_00

Well, I think we we are design um led development company. We start from the basic understanding of what our clients need. Um, we put that into a very defined brief and a very defined scope, and then that goes away and we start talking about the DNA of the project. Who are the buyers? What are they what are they going to want from the from the building? Sometimes people want to buy a project, they want to rent it out. Sometimes they want it for themselves. So we try to really figure out what the target audience is. And once we once we relay that to the designer, in this case, Pen and Farina, we just let them be masters of their craft. Okay. Um, I do not tell architects how to design. Um, I I don't have that ability. And if even if I did, I would let them design. If if not, then you don't need Pen and Farina. You don't need Herzog de Madron. You need to just hire an off-the-shelf white brand architect. But here, due to the I would say the correlation of their design with automobiles, the market here loves that, craves that. People want to drive their their beautiful luxury automobile into their parking and it not to be dirty, it not to be um not friendly. So it starts really from what the person imagines. Um, the arrival is very important, whether it's the lobby, the parking, we go up to the amenities. We spend a lot of time on trying to figure out the right amenities, the right size, the right location. Um, and we just recently added a paddle court to Iconic, which we did not have uh early on. It's an additional cost to us, but we believe the residents would want that and benefit from that. We've we've modified our home cinema to make it a podcast center. So residents now, when they want to do these types of podcasts, you have to go somewhere to look to look for it. You've got it in your building.

SPEAKER_02

That's good.

SPEAKER_00

So, and that could that could be for people who have children that need to do it for school projects or for businessmen that want to go ahead and have a podcast. So I think the whole idea of bringing in all these elements and letting the architect kind of run wild is important. Of course, we we do look at costs, of course, we we we do look at uh to make sure the functionality works because sometimes an architect won't know that a beautiful design is not necessarily what's what's overly functional. And as uh Lorenzo has said, we do have a lot of curves in the in the building, but we try to keep the rooms pretty square. Um we have curves that go up into the ceiling, um, which are which are amazing and which are unique. We have curves in the lighting, um, but we want to make sure that we're not doing something different leveled, um, so that it's just inconvenient, uh inconvenient for our buyers. So let them run and just uh keep with them and keep them in mind that we have to really build this not for our brochure, but for the people who are going to be living in the project.

SPEAKER_03

I forgot about the garage. It's the air conditioned garages that help because it keeps the humidity away from your old cars. So I've got a couple of classic cars here, and uh I have to park them off well, we'll have to park them in a secure parking space in the summer because of the humidity. Because it's too hot in the summer. So, but here we'll just park them in the garage. Perfect.

SPEAKER_01

Michael, developers often promise a community, and Lorenzo's touched on the point that it's not something that can be manufactured. What's your take on this?

SPEAKER_00

Well, community I think is is very important for for all of us as we as we get older, we want to be with people who we want we want to be with. And we don't want to be with people we we don't want to be with. And I think that a marketing team cannot create community. Community is created by people. And we we try to do things in in our even our sales to figure out who is this buyer, what motivates him or her, um, and do they do they fit. You can't you can't deduct all of that from a I don't know, third three-minute or five-minute discussion with someone. But what I can say is that in the last uh year and a half that I've been here, we sold 500 units. We have not had one person that bought our project and has resold, not one. And that means that the people they identify with with our project, um, and they want to be a part of this project when it's completed. And I think we'll see the same, the same in in Riviera that uh just as last weekend I saw a post of all of these stingrays going in Oval Bay, I don't know, there were a hundred of them, right on our bay. And that's it's not our community, right? It's it's uh nature's community, but people are gonna want to be with that. I want to see people walk out onto the boardwalk with their kids and watch the stingrays go by. I want to see people approaching on a boat. All of these images in my mind are something that we're going to introduce to the community, and we believe we're gonna have the paddle course booked all the time. Yes, we believe the pool with a nice uh margarita is gonna be served on the the 40th level, overlooking the palm at a sunset. This is in our mind, and we believe that the people that are buying here are gonna fully engage with that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I'd have to agree. I mean, you set the stage, you provide the environment, and then you end up so I'll be surprised if half the weekends I don't spend it with my usual friends rather than going out somewhere to a beach club or to a hotel, we'll end up just going to the 40th floor and hanging out there together.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

One day we'll have lunch there, maybe we'll have lunch upstairs. It doesn't matter, but it's the people you want to hang out with, so it's much easier to go to your own pool area.

SPEAKER_00

Well, and and we we also want to have the ability for people to have you know parties for themselves so they can imagine. Imagine it's a nice, a nice either a cup of coffee, right, in the morning with friends with a breakfast, which you can you can do up on the up on the the 40th floor, or an evening cocktail or a great glass of wine, right? This is this is stuff again. Pen and farina helps us with that because we're on the same wavelength. We don't need to explain it to them. They they know that. And when you're when you're a resident in Dubai, in the past it's been kind of, I would say kind of plastic. There has not been this community. Now we see families that have moved in, people are planning on retiring here.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And it's really it's really a community that we didn't create, but that's looking for that that uh place to be and to be with like-minded people.

SPEAKER_01

And especially like Lorenzo, when you loved the projects and you convince your friends to also buy in the buildings.

SPEAKER_03

They convinced themselves. I introduced them. Okay, because that's that's the important, I think that's important. I no one saw there's no hard sell, there's no push, push, push. I just said come and see them. Just come and see. The come and see bought iconic, and then they volunteered to come and buy it in Riviera. I didn't have to say come and see. They said, Yeah, well we we want in as well. See, it it it's it's it's kind of different because it's no, there is no you've got to see this is a good deal. No, there's no good, there's not there's nothing like that. Which is that's why it's community because it's it's out of choice. I want to be there.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

I want to hang out. It's like kind of you're out on a Friday night. You want to hang out with people you hang out with on a Friday night. You don't you're not forced to hang out with people on a Friday night, you wouldn't do it.

SPEAKER_01

True. And by inviting your friends, you're creating your community in your home as well.

SPEAKER_03

So my Friday nights are gonna be easy.

SPEAKER_01

How does merit craft the lifestyle that its buildings enable?

SPEAKER_00

Well, there's there's a few key components of of how we we do that. Um, one is set around the amenities that we provide. And at iconic, we have three amazing floors of amenities. Um, one is on top of the podium. We have an amazing pool, paddle courts, um, outdoor, outdoor bar, just an amazing view over the palm that you can enjoy poolside. Then we have a gym, we've got a yoga, a yoga studio, we've got a family lounge, we've got an area we can go rent for for parties and and a kids' play area. Um, that really kind of sets the scene for people being able to come and enjoy that Dolce Vita lifestyle. Then you move up to the building um in the 39th and the 40th floor, um, where we have an amazing pool that is infinity, again, looking out over the palm. I think no one's gonna want to leave from there. And then a Peninfarina inspired cafe. So it will be serviced from the restaurant on the on the ground floor, but you're able to go up there and enjoy in a private atmosphere with your neighbors um what living in Dubai is all about. And in Dubai, it is a lot of networking. Um, I think people want to come together, want to find ways to help grow their business, or if they've got a challenge, they want to ask their neighbor how they dealt with that. Um, and in Abu Dhabi, we have three times as many amenities. It's huge amenities that we have there. Um, we'll have a total of two paddle courts, we have a total of three pools, we've got the the cold plunge, we've had all these amazing things. And we're we're right adjacent to the beach and right right on this amazing marina. So this is really kind of how it defines um the residents that are going to live there. And the the storytelling from uh iconic is really of a Penanfarina designed stylish project. And Abu Dhabi, it's bringing the Riviera to the Emirates. So that whole combination of the whole island island vibe of Abu Dhabi, along with the sophistication of the Riviera, it's something that uh we believe really enhances lifestyle. And we we've seen the engagement um from both of those projects. In Abu Dhabi, we had a number of Etihat pilots that had been living in Abu Dhabi for 15 years and never bought a unit.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

They bought units with us, it just identified with with what they wanted. They're living in a plain vanilla building somewhere, flying in and out. Um, they didn't really spend the time to really um relax when they're at home. Now they really see that ability to come home, bring your friends over, and enjoy the lifestyle at Riviera. And we see the same um with iconic, but it's 85% of our buyers in both projects are European. They come from a good standard of living, they come from an appreciation of lifestyle, and they're getting both of that at uh both of our projects. Yes.

SPEAKER_01

We are seeing an increase in branded residences globally. But as a buyer, what do you feel sets branded residences apart from the rest?

SPEAKER_03

You see, that's what I was referring to about the licensing. There's in my view, there's branded, which is just that. It's a licensing agreement, or there's designed. So the difference is is the Porsche building actually designed by Porsche, or is it just you've rented out or you've leased the Porsche name? Is the Aston Martin is it Aston Martin design? Well, unlikely, but so it it's branded and so it branded and design are very different. So just because you have a brand doesn't mean you designed it. Just because it's an East-La Ran whatever, perfume doesn't mean East-Le Run actually are perfumery. So I'm more into the design element and the quality element rather than uh just the name. Okay. Because license agreements and license agreements. I just saw license agreements for data, but it's just a licensing agreement. Doesn't mean you're involved, just means you've rented out or leased your name. Well, what does that mean? Everybody else underneath that has got no involvement other than whatever terms and conditions are on the contract. If you're the architect, if it's your brand, it's different. And so this licensing, branded is is is is a little bit for me gray. I want to know who has actually done the design work.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. And Michael, from a developer's perspective, what do you feel sets a good branded residence apart from the rest?

SPEAKER_00

Well, I think there's there's a there's three or four popular branded type of residences. First is hospitality, second is automotive, third is fashion that that really stand out. Um I think fashion is the is the weakest because there's there's very little substance behind that. Um, I don't think that if you have um you know a shoe manufacturer in your or your clothing line, it doesn't really translate very well to to architecture. I think you can go buy those brands if you want them in your in your project. Uh automotive um is one that has become very popular, especially popular here in Dubai because people really um are passionate about their cars. Um, and you can bring a lot of design elements in. Pen and Farina, they elevate that ahead of Porsche and Aston Martin and and the Mercedes projects because they are the designers of Ferraris. They are the designers of Maserati's, and they get into the detail of what this needs to have to deliver that type of Pen and Farina quality. The last one is hospitality, which is also a very strong brand for a branded residence because you get aftercare service. Whenever you do a project, say with a Marriott or with an Accor, they have their brand specifications, which you have to you have to meet.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And then they provide services and they provide a spa and they do all of this additional additional services. The question is do you want to pay for all the services or not? Um, it's uh it's a it's a question you need to think about because if you have all of the hotel services, you're gonna be paying a lot for that when you can go to your favorite barber shop or you can go to your favorite spa, or you can do you can do all that somewhere else. Um but I but I think for merit, we will look at doing some hospitality branded residences just because we we think that there is a premium that a developer will get, and there's a premium that buyers will pay. Um, and I would say that for hotel branded residences, the premium over the market is 20 to 35 percent. For automotive is somewhere, I would say 15 to 30 percent, depending on who that is. Fashion brands is probably 10, 10 to 15. And you have to, as a buyer, figure out is it worth it to me to go ahead and and do that? Because if you look at all the branded residences, I think architecturally, none of them stand out. And we can look at our office and you can see that many of them, our building will stand out. Um, and not only will it be the tallest in internet city, not only will it have the the curves of the waves from the front of the building and the sand dunes from the back, the elevators that are going up along the back of the building, you can just feel what's going on to the Italian lifestyle inside. I think that that's really what makes this project amazing here.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So thank you very much for the conversation today. It's clear that um you're very happy to be a merit brand ambassador. And when someone is very is genuinely proud of what they've chosen, it shows the story of a great development. So I will end the podcast by asking a few questions that I ask all of our guests. So the first one is what does luxury mean to you?

SPEAKER_03

Well, it's the feeling it gives you when you have when when you experience it. So whether you buy a pair of shoes or whether you buy a car, it's how do you feel when you wear the shoes, how do you feel when you drive the car? Does it feel like an event? Does it feel special? If it feels special, then it's luxury. If it doesn't, then you just bought something.

SPEAKER_00

Luxury, um, you ask me this question often on podcasts, and I don't think my answer has changed over many of the podcasts, but I think right now time is a huge luxury. Yes. And how you spend your time, if you can spend it around like-minded people, if you can spend it around people who make you feel good. Um, you know, Lorenzo and I, we go out uh, I can't say often, we go out probably three to five times a year. Every time it's an amazing, fun night. We laugh, we have a good time, and that really just re-re-energizes me. So being able to be with like-minded people, spend your time with them, I think is uh something that I I value more than anything.

SPEAKER_01

Great. And what matters the most to you when you're choosing a property?

SPEAKER_03

Oh, the the quality. As I said, not the surface level, the real quality. Okay. And the materials. And the design, of course. I mean, it's it's that combination. It's design and quality combined. Um that's that's the main thing.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. And what do you think will matter most to future generations in their homes?

SPEAKER_03

I think I hope, more than thing, that the that we stop becoming disposable. So people stop buying a sofa that lasts 18 months, a kitchen that lasts six weeks. I think you know, people start to actually appreciate what quality is and have something that can last pretty much you half your lifetime, all your lifetime is worth it. Maybe you have to recover it every 10 years, but the actual fabric, well not the fabric, the actual structure is still there. But you may want to change the colour of the fabric, you may want to change the type of fabric, but the actual structure of the sofa is there. So that's what I'm hoping that people stop just going through fads and disposable stuff.

SPEAKER_01

Great. Well, thank you for joining us today.

SPEAKER_03

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_00

Come back for a coffee, sir.