Dh11bn realty fund on anvil

A Dh11 billion open-ended real estate fund is to be launched by Dubai-based development company Property House by December, its CEO has revealed. "The fund will be a consortium of ten private investors including DSECO, a South Korean developer," Muhammed Nazir told Emirates Business.

"Considering prices are increasing, we are looking to increase our capital base. The idea is to triple whatever investment we have now. We expect to provide returns of 16 per cent per annum," Nazir said.

Last week Aldar Properties said it planned to launch a Dh3.7bn real estate fund. CEO Ronald Barrott said: "We are in the process of structuring the funds. The first will be launched in 2009." And Al Futtaim Capital recently said it has raised Dh1.8bn through two real estate funds.

The company has invested Dh3.7bn in working capital and has acquired a land bank of six million sq ft in Dubai and Ajman.

Property House's Nazir said: "We will be launching Dh18.4bn worth of projects in the next two years. And in 2008 we will launch five mixed-use projects in Dubai and Ajman worth Dh3.5bn."

Property House and DSECO have jointly launched Al Helio development a Dh14.7bn mixed-use venture in Ajman. The project, which has been masterplanned by UK-based Atkins, will cover 27 million sq ft and will have 72 residential and commercial towers. "The funding will be met partly by us with a larger share of the investment - 70 per cent – coming from DSECO."

Property House will launch Barbaro Sundance in the Majan area of Dubailand next week, followed by Mirror Walk, a residential project, in Dubai. The company has registered with the Real Estate Regulatory Agency and is in the process of opening escrow accounts.

Majan – which is being developed by Mizin, the real estate development arm of Tatweer – is a mixed-use development that will have more than 500,000 people living and working in it within the next three to five years. Nazir, said the company was planning to expand next year and acquire land in Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Turkey and Malta.

"We have already set up a sister companies in Istanbul and are looking to acquire land there," he added.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.