• Saudi Arabia and Qatar joint venture plan more schemes in GCC
• Joint venture currently developing Alef Residences in Dubai

A joint venture between Saudi Arabia’s Al-Sharq Investment and Doha-based Al-Mana Company says it is looking at other real estate opportunities in Dubai and the “wider GCC.”

The joint venture, which was established in 2014 to complete the $2bn Alef Residences project in Dubai, is understood to go beyond the mixed-use luxury development on the Palm Jumeirah. Al-Sharq Investment is the leading partner with 51 per cent control of the partnership.

Member of the executive committee at Al-Sharq Investment, Mahmoud Amer told MEED “the partnership was created to complete the project, yes. It is also going to be our driver to press ahead with more projects under the Alef brand.”

The 51,000 square metre Alef Residences is currently under construction with completion expected in the second quarter of 2017. The main contractor on the project is the local/UK Al-Futtaim Carillion which was awarded the main contract in 2014. The residential scheme is also part of a master project that includes the W Hotel, which is also expected to be completed at the same time.

“The project is fully funded with and we are planning to start selling units on 24 November,” explained Amer.

It is unclear how much debt has been used by the developers to press ahead with the scheme.

Amer also goes on to say that Al-Sharq is not worried about the state of Dubai’s real estate market and claims that “Alef finds itself in the ultra-luxury segment, which is often exempt from market fluctuations as it caters for a small demographic.”