Dubai's most renowned offshore lifestyle community is also home to some of the city's best luxury apartments. Palm Jumeirah offers a completely unparalleled standard of beachfront living, with a wide variety of studios, one to four-bedroom apartments, and exclusive penthouses that looks out over incredible sea views. All of these homes also enjoy access to pristine private beaches. The developer of Palm Jumeirah was Nakheel, a real estate company now owned by the government of Dubai. The master plan was drawn up by Helman Hurley Charvat Peacock, an American architectural firm. The islets were made mostly from sand dredged from the floor of the Persian Gulf, but the side of the crescent that is exposed to the open sea was shored up with stones and boulders from the mainland. Work started in 2001, and land and basic infrastructure were in place by 2004. Construction of the buildings began in 2006, and the first residents arrived in 2007.