Local developer Seven Tides has revived its AED650m ($177m) luxury Oceana Hotel & Resort project on the trunk of Palm Jumeirah, Dubai.

Seven Tides expects to sign a AED150m fit-out contract with an international contractor in April for an immediate start. It plans to finish work in the first quarter of 2016.

Seven Tides will operate the five-star hotel and serviced apartments itself, under the British Dukes brand.

The consultant is Malaysian PGSI.

The construction and structural works were completed in 2010, and the building has stood empty since then. Malaysia’s Peremba was awarded AED314m worth of contracts in 2005. The hotel was originally planned to be operated by Movenpick.

The hotel comprises 273 rooms, 185 studios and 42 one-bedroom apartments ranging from 286 to 834 square feet. It also has three restaurants, three bars, two pools, a gym, conference rooms.

The total built-up area of the development, including apartments completed and sold several years ago is 230,000 square metres.

Seven Tides is confident the hotel will be ready for operation in 2016.

“We studied design, issues, materials and quality, and lined up consultants and contractors, and we felt comfortable recently to go ahead. The timing wasn’t linked to any financial or market motives,” says Abdulla bin Sulayem, CEO of Seven Tides. “We have a full expansion plan for this year, next year and the years after focused on Dubai, which has the best tourism infrastructure and is the dominant market in the GCC.”

This is despite an oversupply of luxury hotels in Dubai, which is softening room rates. Seven Tides plans to sell serviced apartments as an investment.

“The market for big-brand hotels is crowded, so this boutique hotel is a different offering,” says a representative of Dukes Oceana. “While the numbers of Russian investors has dropped off, we expect interest from Saudi, Chinese and especially Indian investors, after caps on money transfers in India were lifted.”