For the past few years the talk of the Hotel Development community as well as the commercial real estate community has been Dubai.

While I've never been there, I've seen news article after news article which seems to have nothing but great things to say about the country. In addition to that, it's always mentioned how there is such an abundance of cranes and construction sites that the city is just growing in leaps and bounds.

I've always been nervous about Dubai, it seems almost too good to be true, because it seems that nothing can or will stop its construction.

My concern is – where does this population which will sustain such massive development like this come from? Is there really a need for a city/country to literally come out of the ground at such speed and such massiveness, yet still be able to sustain itself?

All logical explanation and thinking say no – but speed of development, word of mouth and reporting say otherwise.

But still – it just doesn't seem logical.

Even before the recession that the United States is currently in began, I found it hard to believe that it's growth can be sustained, that the capital required to build numerous islands in the ocean (The Palms, The World, etc) would make a positive return on investment once finished, and even if that was possible – that there would be enough people to actually purchase property within all these projects.

I don't have actual facts – but I'd be very interested to know how many condos/residences/hotel rooms are being built in Dubai – or have been built in Dubai over the past 5 years compared to the world as a whole. I really wouldn't be surprised to see that it closely parallels or exceeds the development that is occurring in the rest of the world within an area 1 and a half times the size of Rhode Island.

Proponents of Dubai Development would say, "Well its only a six hour plane ride from China, eight hours from Hong Kong and 7 hours from major European cities like London and Frankfurt". That may be the case – but what is the draw to Dubai besides its rapid growth, heat (120+ in the summer) and beaches?

Other major cities throughout the world have more sustainable attractions – Paris has its history and buildings, London has the Thames, and Tower of London, plus its a financial capital of the world.

The whole idea of this post came from this newspaper story.. It's so interesting as to what really goes on in Dubai, and how it isn't all luxury and glam like they'd like you to believe. Granted – no place is perfect, you could easily say the same for New York City, or Los Angeles, but Dubai is different...

It's no secret that there is a dark side to LA or NYC, but I'd like to know how many people realize that there is such a dark side to Dubai.

Andrew Calvo is a 26 year old Commercial Real Estate Advisor in New Jersey. I live in Tinton Falls, NJ. This blog is about my passions - primarily hotels, commercial real estate, and development, etc.

Since I have been in High School I've had numerous jobs, but the field which has always interested me is Real Estate, Hotel Development and Construction. I consider myself a zealot in that area - I try to absorb as much as I possibly can, take the experiences that I learn, or read about and use them in my life. 

www.passionsofazealot.com