Located at his Soneva Fushi resort on the island of Kunfunadhoo, a 35 minute seaplane-ride away from the capital, Male, the villas look out over the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean.
Shivdasani
has sold eight villas, mainly to Europeans, since marketing began in
2011. A total of 16 private residences are on sale through agents,
Savills, at prices starting from GBP3 million for a three bedroom
home with 20 metres of beach frontage. Built from wood and thatch,
each villa can be altered in consultation with the architects, and
has its own swimming pool. Construction of each villa starts when a
buyer's offer is accepted, and takes about eight months.
Barefoot millionaires
The
resort operator says there will be a maximum of 65 villas. At least
one-third of the island, which is 1.4 kilometres long and 400 meters
wide, will remain undeveloped jungle, he promises.
Leases
for villas are only 50 years, but can be renewed on expiry. Buyers
can look forward to annual returns of 4 to 5 per cent if they place
their properties in the rental pool says Shivdasani who is chief
executive officer of the Soneva Group.
Although
gourmet dinners and fine wine tasting is available, life at the resort is mainly about walking around barefoot and enjoying the sea and beach.
“We
offer intelligent luxury,” says Shivdasani, “we offer unique
experiences, things that people can't do in London or New York, such
as dolphin cruises and having an overnight stay in a tent on a
sandbank.”
Forty-six
treatments are available at the resort spa.
Private islands
Owning
your own private island in the Maldives is possible. Many of the 1200
islands in the Maldives are available for sale for private use. They
include Kendhivaru, a 17 hectare private island in the Noonu Atoll,
which is on offer for GBP2.5 million through real estate web site,
Private Islands Online. It has a new, five bedroom, five bathroom
bungalow and separate staff quarters, plus two generators,
desalination plant and fruit and vegetable garden. The owner will
sell for GBP1.9 million if the buyer is a resort developer who agrees
to share future proceeds.
Floating homes
Prospective
holiday home buyers concerned about the possibility of rising sea
levels brought about by climate change can purchase a property that
floats. Dutch Docklands, a Netherlands headquartered developer of
floating structures, is building five “lagoons” that will be
anchored to the seabed in the North Male Atoll and which will rise
with sea levels. More than 700 homes for sale will be built on these
lagoons.
The
lagoons include Ocean Flower, a flower-shaped quay that will provide
access to 185 water villas situated over the sea. Starting prices for
villas which will have two, three or four bedrooms, start from GBP1
million. Scheduled for completion in 2014, the villas are on offer
through sales agents, Christies International Real Estate, which is
also marketing Amillarah, an archipelago of 43 floating private
islands, the scheme's second “lagoon”. Depending on client
specifications, prices for these private islands start from GBP6.3
million.
Other
lagoons include the world's first floating 18-hole golf course, which
will have villas overlooking the greens, and Greenstar, a floating
star-shaped hotel, shopping mall and convention centre. Plans for a
Venice-inspired floating village with townhouses completes the
project.
