Danyal Shiekh

Early life and background

Shiekh is from Faisalabad. His family runs a knitting business that manufactures clothing for large brands. His grandfather started the business, and his father and two uncles are fully involved in it. Shiekh describes himself as a very funny guy in his group in Faisalabad. [1]

Shiekh has said he always had an entrepreneurial drive to start something from scratch, and that he could add a lot of value if he joined his father's family business. His parents first wanted him to join and grow the business. His family feared that he would take a long time to succeed in an unfamiliar field. His parents told him to do something different if he wanted to, and they backed him. He says his parents, siblings and wider family have been big supporters of his move, and that his father told him he needed to leave his comfort zone. [1]

Education

Shiekh attended Beaconhouse Faisalabad for school. He attended a school before going abroad to the US. He studied at American University in Washington DC, where he failed a class in his first semester. He was a member of the entrepreneurship club at American University and became its president when he graduated. [1]

Time in the United States

Shiekh has described the move to the US as a reverse culture shock. He says a sense of humor is a universal weapon he has. He says he was taught in America that early is on time, on time is late, and late is not an option. In his view, college in America is more about experience and exposure than grades. [1]

He says he went to Silicon Valley for a conference. He says he realized that life is not about connections but about relationships. [1]

Marriott International

Shiekh worked at Marriott International headquarters in the US. He was a digital marketing analyst there, and says he had 150 hotels in his portfolio, in a region that covered the Caribbean and Latin America. At Marriott headquarters he worked on a project called Room of the Future, with Samsung and Legrand. He says he chose hospitality after working at Marriott. [1]

Beverly Hills project

Shiekh founded a company that is behind the Beverly Hills project. He says he found the office and set it up himself from the first day, and that he hired the team himself. He says he has a good team and a group of advisors who guide him. He moved to Islamabad for this work. [1]

Shiekh asked why there were so many boring hotels and boring apartments. He says he wanted to create a landmark of Pakistan, and he compares the planned building to the Burj Khalifa as a landmark for northern Pakistan. He says the Beverly Hills project is happening on the Murree Expressway. The building has eight storeys and about 50,000 square feet. [1]

Shiekh lived in California for his master's degree, and says Beverly Hills is close to his heart. He says Pakistan has a trend of using foreign names in real estate that have no story. He says the project's soul is Pakistan, though its inspiration is from California. Its logo is an ibex, which he says is the national animal of Pakistan. He says the interiors have two themes, from timeless to time driven, and that Hollywood Glam is about freedom of expression, not simply modern. [1]

Concept and rental programme

Shiekh describes a new concept that he calls experiential living. He says experiential living gives residents experiences in Pakistan that they have not had before. He says well-settled families who want to buy an additional residence are looking for a decent place in the north, and that families want a holiday home near Islamabad at the gateway to the north. He says he is building for end users rather than investors. He says that with a hotel room you do not have any designated space. [1]

The apartments are for sale and will also be available for rent once the project is complete. Shiekh has built a full rental programme for owners who want to rent out their units, and says he has shared the expected rental yield with buyers. He says the apartments will have full automation and cameras. He says owners get full service, with the apartment maintained, cleaned and serviced, and pay a monthly service fee, for example 10,000 for a two-bedroom unit. He says an unclean apartment would be his own failure, and that he wants to exceed client commitments rather than disappoint clients. [1]

The project has an exclusive spa in place of a pool. Shiekh says it has no pool because developers often show pools in renders that they cannot manage, and says a pool cannot be given to people as privately. He says a Ritz-Carlton massage room left a lasting impression that inspired his spa. The project has a lighting plan, and he says he is trying to bring a retractable system from Turkey. [1]

Sales and community

Shiekh said that 45% had already been sold, without any dealer network. He says his main sales strategy is word of mouth. He says he is building a community, not selling apartments, and describes the community as families from Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala and Karachi living together. He says he is creating and selling homes for a niche market. [1]

Planning and construction

Shiekh says he spends time on planning before execution and does not go into execution right away. He says people in Pakistan plan too little and execute too quickly. He says many projects are late because owners learn of problems too late, and gives the example of a plumber who is due at 2 o'clock and arrives at 4. He says an owner must be fully involved in a project and visit the site regularly. [1]

He uses BIM, Building Information Modeling, which he says is rare in Pakistan. He says BIM syncs electrical, plumbing, architectural and mechanical plans. He works with a contractor who uses sub-contractors, and has his own resident engineer on site. His project architect is a woman, and he advises giving women an opportunity to see whether they can make a difference. [1]

He has plans for a society in the future, but is focused on apartments now. He says apartment buildings are more challenging than societies because of piping and floors. He says he was told to pay something before being given a letter for land in his name, and that he has hired a local person who speaks the local language. He says a road built in the area brought the taxi fare down from 2500 rupees to 200. He says business opportunities in Pakistan are large and that working in Pakistan is enjoyable despite challenges. [1]

Joint ventures

Shiekh says a person reached out to him, said they had a lot of land, and told him he was good in marketing and branding. He says a joint venture is a joint vision, which is very difficult to achieve. He says his vision differs from his partners' and that this causes clashes. [1]

3D printing and prefabrication

Shiekh says he is not from an engineering background and is a marketing and branding person. He says he was working with a company in the US and met its CEO. He says he was inspired by 3D printing while in the US and wanted to create the first 3D printing colony in Pakistan. He says he is taking training in 3D printing from a company. He says 3D printing is for low and middle income people, not the elite. [1]

He says a company had made a model house, with a cost of $6,000 and a home ready in 24 hours, and that the $6,000 cost was for a build in Texas, in the US. He says Pakistan should move towards high-rise living, and that low and middle income high-rises should be 3D printed or pre-fab for quick execution. He is exploring pre-fab technology for hospitality, not for residential real estate. He says pre-fab choices must account for insulation in Hunza's extreme weather. He says plans are under way at Attabad Lake in Hunza. [1]

Other ventures

Shiekh has a contract with a company and works with it. He says he handles packaging, branding, marketing and Facebook ads for a company he works with. He created an online platform, and says he works with a few artists and sells the products they make online for them. He says he is not an artist but is a business, marketing and branding person. He says many Pakistani artists are good but lack the means to scale their work. [1]

He says Pakistanis do not value Pakistani art properly, and he wants to take Pakistani art from Pakistan to the world. He says talks are under way with some US retail stores, and he plans to give a presentation to them. [1]

Views

Shiekh says being the decision maker lets you pursue what you truly wanted. He says building something from scratch gives him a bigger sense of achievement. He says money is a by-product, and the impact a person creates lasts. He says one should not look at failure but at how to rise from it. [1]

Appearances

Frequently asked questions

References

1. Why Pakistan builds boring buildings and how Danyal Shiekh wants to fix it . Thought Behind Things , 2021-08-13.