Dubai Marina Needs Car Parking

Dubai Marina is a beautiful place; it has lovely buildings, shaded walkways, boutique brands, great looking people, and luxurious yachts. Don’t you just love it? I certainly do, every time I get out of my car and take a stroll along Marina Walk.

There’s just one problem. It’s the bit that comes before getting out of the car. I’m talking about parking the car. Unfortunately for most of the residents I’ve met in Dubai Marina, who live in anything other than the first six Emaar towers, parking is the bane of their life.

Some buildings have cavernous underground parking going five or six levels down. It feels like being swallowed up in the belly of the earth, a kind of subterranean pit; it’s not for those who suffer claustrophobia. And more often than not the parking is cramped and limited.

The situation gets a lot worse when you get on to ground level. Particularly for visitors who may be seeing family or friends in one of the apartment blocks. Double parking is common, as is “off-roading” the 4x4 on to the pavement. All of this makes walking around apartment blocks in the Dubai Marina a carbon monoxide trap.

Extra parking will improve overall appeal of Dubai Marina

But there is a solution. One of the positive outcomes of the economic downturn is that the heavily congested Dubai Marina is unlikely to see all of the remaining empty or partly completed plots fully utilized as luxury apartments. So potentially there is a great business opportunity for Emaar to re-zone these plots into multi-storey car parking blocks.

The cost of building would be significantly cheaper, it can be constructed very quickly if there is no basement and the car park would make a tidy long term profit to the investors who put their money behind the scheme.

For residents and their guests, it provides a shaded relatively dust free environment for their cars. And it will even provide some employment opportunities to the hard working car washing crews that currently adorn the shopping mall car parks.

So how about it, if you live, work or regularly visit Dubai Marina why not, if you haven’t done so already, get a low pressure campaign started and ask Emaar to re-zone some of the empty plots to multi storey car park facilities.

It will be good for Emaar as there is a functional need and it will improve the overall appeal of Dubai Marina. It’s good for the residents and their visitors who have a place to park and it’s good for the shrewd investors looking to make a sustainable long term profit. 

Comments

[zz]

I live in the Trident building Marinascape next to Al Habtoor tower - and part of our car park has been turned into self and valet parking which is convenient if you are visiting the Marina. Not sure if they would consider long term rental.

[Debbie Rogers Owen]

There is parking at Marinascape - either self park or valet parking for a price

[Neema Kataria]

Hi Hashim,

...perhaps you also want to mention the fact that the wardens take a very avid interest in the off road parking too and slap on numerous fines.

[Patricia Lotte]

Parking does not generate revenue, flats do. Also, fining residents brings in money. Why would they change this? The Marina needs parking and greenery.

[JA]

At weekends we cannot walk anymore...I don't think we need more people to come to the Marina... So please No Extra Parking...

[Nick Jollie]

Some of the buildings in the marina are finished but unoccupied. Other buildings in the marina are occupied but only to levels of about 50-60%.

Can you imagine the parking situation if Dubai ever came out of crisis and JBR and the Marina were fully occupied?