The Ras al Khaimah Government is willing to take over La Hoya Bay, a Dh2 billion (US$545 million) island property project threatened by the collapse of its developer, a senior government official said Thursday.
The decision came as a relief to hundreds of investors, mainly from the UK, who have committed their savings to the flagship project of the Ras al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA), on the man-made island of Al Marjan.
"We won't make it complicated for investors," said Khater Massaad, the chief executive of RAKIA and adviser to Sheikh Saud bin Saqr, the Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras al Khaimah. "Those who have paid for a studio will get a studio. The project will be built."
Investors had petitioned the Government to come to their rescue after the original developer, Khoie Properties, became insolvent and stopped construction.
A senior board member of Khoie Properties is in jail for allegedly failing to honour a cheque for Dh57m written in favour of the Government to pay for the land on the island.
Ashley Merry, a London-based investor in the project who acts as a spokeswoman for other investors, said: "Our dream position would be for RAKIA to take over the project and complete it. RAKIA has acted very honourably and graciously to the investors in a very difficult situation."
RAKIA has asked the courts to designate an official receiver for Khoie Properties. It will then appoint another developer to finish building the first phase of La Hoya Bay, which consists of seven residential buildings of seven storeys.
Mr Massaad said: "We don't want to take the project just like this and continue it. We want to do it in a legal way. This is why we have asked the court to designate a caretaker to continue the project."
Rakeen, the property arm of the Government, may become the new project manager because no other developer had come forward. Rakeen is the master developer of the whole island.
"If Rakeen is the project manager of La Hoya Bay, it will open an escrow account, award a construction company to do the project. It could all take less than a month," Mr Massaad said.
Wahid Attalla, a director of Rakeen, said the project would also be renamed because "La Hoya Bay" has become an "irritating name for everybody".
The takeover by Ras al Khaimah is the most direct example of government intervention in the UAE property market, which has suffered from steep price falls, a growing number of defaults and some cases of fraud by developers. In Dubai, the Government has so far favoured assistance to developers in the form of loans.
Khoie Properties has already received a 30 per cent downpayment from investors, worth about Dh280m, and the balance was originally due on completion.
In return for completing the project, Rakeen proposes to ask investors to pay another 50 per cent of the agreed price in five instalments to finance construction, leaving just 20 per cent due on completion. Rakeen would absorb any loss of the initial downpayment, which is now missing and possibly unrecoverable, Mr Attalla said.
"We are even keeping the prices as they are," he said. "The only thing is that there will be escalating payment terms."
But RAKIA does not intend to take on any of the liabilities of Khoie Properties. "They took nearly Dh300m from investors. What have they done with it?" Mr Massaad said.
If designated, Rakeen will also help investors obtain mortgages to minimise the risk of buyers defaulting and ensure the project goes ahead despite the current tight credit conditions.
"We already started discussions with the banks to give them mortgages for the due money," Mr Massaad said.
Rakeen is also developing Bab al Bahr, another huge property project on Marjan Island.
La Hoya Bay was originally planned in three phases, with the second and third phases themed as Business Village and Regency respectively.
The first phase was the most popular. The second phase had a few sales, while none of the third was sold. Rakeen is likely to rationalise all the investors into the first phase.
"Our role is really to secure the first phase in order to protect the investors," Mr Massaad said. "Concerning the second, I have met with two large investors who have bought in bulk and they don't have a problem with relocating to the residence part if we are not going ahead with the business."
The land designated for the two other phases could be sold to other developers if there is any interest.
Once a decision has been made by the court, Mr Massaad said the investors would be informed by e-mail.
ngillet@thenational.ae
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 374hp at 5,500-6,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm from 1,900-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km
Price: from Dh285,000
On sale: from January 2022
THE%20SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%204.4-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%20hybrid%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20653hp%20at%205%2C400rpm%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20800Nm%20at%201%2C600-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3ETransmission%3A%208-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E0-100kph%20in%204.3sec%0D%3Cbr%3ETop%20speed%20250kph%0D%3Cbr%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20NA%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Q2%202023%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh750%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.0-litre%20six-cylinder%20turbo%20(BMW%20B58)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20340hp%20at%206%2C500rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20500Nm%20from%201%2C600-4%2C500rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20ZF%208-speed%20auto%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E0-100kph%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.2sec%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETop%20speed%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20267kph%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh462%2C189%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EWarranty%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2030-month%2F48%2C000k%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE SQUAD
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Ahmed Raza, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Chirag Suri , Zahoor Khan
Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Fixtures
Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
RESULT
Arsenal 0 Chelsea 3
Chelsea: Willian (40'), Batshuayi (42', 49')
Dubai Rugby Sevens, December 5 -7
World Sevens Series Pools
A – Fiji, France, Argentina, Japan
B – United States, Australia, Scotland, Ireland
C – New Zealand, Samoa, Canada, Wales
D – South Africa, England, Spain, Kenya
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Premier League results
Saturday
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Arsenal 1
Bournemouth 0 Manchester City 1
Brighton & Hove Albion 1 Huddersfield Town 0
Burnley 1 Crystal Palace 3
Manchester United 3 Southampton 2
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Cardiff City 0
West Ham United 2 Newcastle United 0
Sunday
Watford 2 Leicester City 1
Fulham 1 Chelsea 2
Everton 0 Liverpool 0
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars