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