Viceroy Dubai Palm Jumeirah secures $201m Funding

SKAI Holdings, the Dubai-based real estate investment company, has secured Dhs737.6 million ($201 million) of financing for its Dhs3.75 billion Viceroy Dubai Palm Jumeirah, ensuring the project is fully funded.

The financing agreement was arranged by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China’s largest bank, marking its first project financing deal for a hospitality project in the Middle East.

Khalid Obaid Al Mutaiwei, senior director of the Real Estate Development Trust Account Department at RERA, said securing funding for projects at such an early stage of development is a practice which is supported by RERA and reassuring to off-plan investors.

Zhou Xiaodong, CEO of ICBC Middle East, said since starting its operations in the UAE in 2008, the total assets of ICBC have doubled year on year.

The announcement follows several months after SKAI Holdings said it would form a special purpose vehicle with Viceroy Dubai Palm Jumeirah’s main contractor, China State Construction Engineering Corporation (Middle East), following its investment in the project.

“An increasing number of Chinese investors are looking to the Middle East and the UAE in particular as they seek to diversify their assets and investment portfolio,” said Yu Tao, president and CEO of China State Construction Engineering Corporation (Middle East). “The Emirates’ strategic location, and its strong infrastructure and growing real estate sector means it is set to become a vital area of growth for Chinese investment.”

The luxury residential and hospitality project, which is slated for completion in 2016, will contain 479 spacious rooms and suites and 222 signature Viceroy Residences with striking seaviews. A beach club and 100-metre-long pool will be complemented by children’s clubs, entertainment and sporting activities.