Circa 2007, Dubai was literally and figuratively the hot spot onthe map. The city’s masive office towers, hotels and master-plannedcommunities were poised to drag the rest of the developmentcommunity into the future. But even the super-charged city in theUnited Arab Emirates must answer to the cruel mistress of time andthe vicissitudes of the global economy. “Dubai thought trees growto the moon,” explains Mike Straneva, partner & Americasdirector at Ernst & Young. “It doesn’t happen.”

Sitting on the Arabian Peninsula of the Persian Gulf, Dubaisurged into public consciousness with its ambitious developmentsduring the boom years of the aughts. Web searches exploded seekingrenderings of the Burj Dubai (now Burj Khalifa), the world’stallest building, and the Palm Jumeirah; a master-planned communityof man-made islands in the shape of palm trees visible fromspace.

“Overall, Dubai was really a hot market,” says Straneva. “Itstarted off five years ago as an alternative for European peoplefor second homes for travel and accelerated.” And construction wasrampant.