IFA pumps $200m more into Dubai's resort
IFA pumps $200m more into Dubai's resort
DUBAI: Kuwait's International Financial Advisers (IFA) have signed their fifth joint venture deal with Dubai property developers Nakheel to construct a luxury hotel and resort at a cost of US$200 million on the emirate's colossal man-made island, The Palm Jumeirah.
The resort will boast a 750-metre (-yard) beachfront by a luxury hotel and resort comprising 1,000 rooms along the crescent of The Palm, the first of two palm tree-shaped islands being built off the city state on reclaimed land.
IFA purchased 150,000 square metres (1.6 million square feet) of land at a cost of $42 million for the project.
"IFA is in the process of selecting an international hotel company to operate the property and this will be announced in the near future," a statement said.
It is the fifth major investment in the Palm for the IFA-led consortium of several Kuwaiti and international firms including Kuwait Real Estate Co, International Finance Co, and United Investments Portugal.
IFA's Hotels and Resorts subsidiary has already invested in the Souq Palm and residence, which will include 220 shops and restaurants as well as 750 apartments along the trunk of The Palm.
It previously invested in a resort which will include the five-star Palm Hotel and Resort with 300 rooms, the 460-suite Palm Vacation Club, and Palm Residence with 246 shoreline apartments.
The multi-billion-dollar Palm Jumeirah resort boasts giant fronds surrounded by 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) of protective barrier reefs and will add 120 kilometers (75 miles) of sandy beaches to the emirate's coastline.
The island is to include 2,000 villas, up to 50 luxury hotels, shops, cinemas and the Middle East's first marine park. Construction on the reclaimed land is underway.
The second project, the Palm, Jebel Ali, is due to be much larger than the first as Dubai, which is part of a seven-member federation, puts its faith in ambitious plans to attract 15 million visitors by 2010 and 40 million by 2015, compared with some six million in 2003.-- AFP