How would you like to sit in your living room and watch seahorses swim by outside your window? Sound like some futuristic dream? Maybe not.
Property developer The Kleindienst Group is promising just that with the 42 flats it is planning to build 5 kilometers off Dubai’s shore, as a part of “The Floating Seahorse.” They are part of the The Kleindienst Group's mega-development of six islands in the controversial The World project.
"The seahorse is an endangered species and we will create an artificial coral reef beneath the luxury retreats which will be a protected area in which seahorses can safely live and breed,” the firm's chief executive Josef Kleindienst told The National . “Very soon, people will be able to see up-close and personal, the beautiful and elegant Arabian horse of the ocean — the seahorse.”
The flats will be three stories - underwater, sea level and an upper deck. They are being designed as essentially boats without motors - and the company says it is exploring selling them around the world. The Dubai development is expected to be completed in 2016.
“Since launching The Floating Seahorse we have been inundated with local, regional and international enquiries. We are excited to not just offer people a once in a lifetime investment opportunity in Dubai but on a global scale,” Kleindienst said. “The Floating Seahorse is not restricted to Dubai waters and can be designed and fabricated in Dubai for other resorts and destinations worldwide.”
The company told Gulf News that 35 of the planned flats off Dubai's shore were already sold, and that the project was expected to be completed next year.