Park Line, the special-purpose vehicle that won the contract to design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) a project for the Dubai Courts in May 2016, expects to reach financial close on the scheme soon.

It is understood Park Line has received a sanction from one bank so far, and expects another from a second bank shortly.

“Reaching a financial close has taken slightly longer than expected,” sources familiar with the project tell MEED. “It is the first PPP [public-private partnership] project outside the power and water sectors, so there are some challenges in terms of obtaining financing.”

The $80m deal was awarded in May last year. Park Line said during the contract signing that it was expecting to reach financial close within six months.

The work involves converting a portion of the car park at the Dubai Courts premises into an integrated development that will include two buildings: one to house the Supreme Courts and cater to commercial and retail establishments, and the other a multi-level car park equipped with robotic car parking technology. The car park is designed to feature 1,232 car parking spaces.

The project is located in the employee car park area within the grounds of the Dubai Courts, which currently has 250 car parking spaces.

Park Line was created by the Dubai subsidiary of India’s IL&FS Transportation Networks Limited (ITNL) and Next Generation Parking (NGP), a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s KBW Investments.

NGP will be providing the automated car parking technology for the scheme.

The project will have a concession period lasting 30 years, at the end of which the assets will be transferred back to the Dubai Courts, in compliance with the provisions made by the Dubai PPP law.

The construction period is expected to last 30 months, which is included in the 30-year concession period.