A Kuwaiti investment company says it has sold nearly a third of its “fractional ownership shares” at residences in its Palm Jumeirah hotel in Dubai within a couple of weeks of the launch.
The International Financial Advisors (IFA) Hotel Investments, which manages Fairmont The Palm, has five penthouses at the hotel set aside for shared ownership. Five more are expected to be added.
Shared ownership, or timeshare, is catching on in the luxury hotel sector.
Chiheb Ben Mahmoud, the head of hotel advisory at Jones Lang LaSalle, Middle East and Africa region, says that while shared ownership has been viewed in the past “as a workout strategy for troubled real estate developments”, it should be viewed as a lifestyle rather than a financial investment.
Whereas Viceroy The Palm and Anantara Residences The Palm have offered whole ownership of hotel rooms in return of a percentage of the hotel profits, Fairmont Heritage Place is offering part ownership of the hotel rooms.
“There is no particularly robust regulation for this product in this country but it is coming,” said Joe Sita, the chief executive of IFA Hotels & Resorts. “The main consumer protection available is that developers cannot sell the product until it is complete.”
Each unit at Fairmont Heritage Place has 13 shares sold through a company registered in Jebel Ali Free Zone. Each of the 10 units will be owned by an individual company, which in turn will be owned by each unit’s 13 shareholders. The title deed of the unit is held by the company.
The share owners cannot sell their stake for three years, or they can wait for IFA to sell off all shares in all 10 units. They can transfer or sell the unit like a share, and prices are open to fluctuation.
The units are priced from US$150,000 to $265,000 for one and two-bedroom penthouses overlooking the sea, with a 4 per cent maintenance fee per year.
In return the owners are guaranteed a minimum 21 days at their unit, or can instead opt for two weeks at any Fairmont Heritage Place and a week at a Fairmont hotel anywhere in the world. After 21 days, they can stay at their unit without cost, based on availability, and they also have access to the hotel amenities.
Other international hotel operators offering shared ownership products, include Ritz-Carlton, Marriott Residence Club, Marriott Vacation Club, Hilton and Four Seasons.
“Luxury hotels are interested in fractional products now because they make sense,” said Mr Sita. “The global slowdown gave people pause about how they choose to spend their money. Why pay for a whole Ferrari when you are only going to drive it on the weekend? The same applies to holiday homes.”
The 384-room Fairmont The Palm opened last December after delays following the global financial crisis.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
T10 Cricket League
Sharjah Cricket Stadium
December 14- 17
6pm, Opening ceremony, followed by:
Bengal Tigers v Kerala Kings
Maratha Arabians v Pakhtoons
Tickets available online at q-tickets.com/t10
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
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Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners
Crazy Rich Asians
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan
Four stars
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
LUKA CHUPPI
Director: Laxman Utekar
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Cinema
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana
Rating: 3/5
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- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
Normal People
Sally Rooney, Faber & Faber
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
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- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
Slow loris biog
From: Lonely Loris is a Sunda slow loris, one of nine species of the animal native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore
Status: Critically endangered, and listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list due to growing demand in the global exotic pet trade. It is one of the most popular primate species found at Indonesian pet markets
Likes: Sleeping, which they do for up to 18 hours a day. When they are awake, they like to eat fruit, insects, small birds and reptiles and some types of vegetation
Dislikes: Sunlight. Being a nocturnal animal, the slow loris wakes around sunset and is active throughout the night
Superpowers: His dangerous elbows. The slow loris’s doe eyes may make it look cute, but it is also deadly. The only known venomous primate, it hisses and clasps its paws and can produce a venom from its elbow that can cause anaphylactic shock and even death in humans
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THE DETAILS
Kaala
Dir: Pa. Ranjith
Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar
Rating: 1.5/5
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
