Enshaa has refusal right to Palazzo Versace growth

Enshaa, the master developer behind the Palazzo Versace resort in Dubai Creek, is currently exploring sites in Europe and Asia to develop more Versace-branded development, its CEO said at the Cityscape Global property exhibition.

“Our company has the right of first refusal for a global roll out of Palazzo Versace, so we are exploring at the moment the development management and hotel management of several projects as we speak,” Enshaa CEO, Raza Jafar, said in an interview with Hotelier Middle East's sister title, Arabian Business.

“We are exploring Europe, we are exploring Asia. They are two areas we are actively exploring,” he added.

In July, the developer announced that handover of the project's ultra-luxurious residences has started and it is delivering units to around four customers a day.

The 169 Residences at Palazzo Versace, of which around 90 percent are now sold, range in size from one to five bedrooms and "provide a lifestyle experience that truly reflects the opulence and sophistication for which House of Versace is globally renowned," Enshaa said.

Palazzo Versace Dubai was launched in 2006 by Emirates Sunland Group, a 50:50 joint venture between Enshaa’s subsidiary firm Emirates International Holdings (EIH) and Australian developer The Sunland Group.

Recently, the Italian fashion house's Dubai hotel pinched Jumeirah Burj Al Arab's GM and appointed him to run the property. 

The design includes two Versace-branded residential buildings comprised of the 169 luxury condominiums, and a Versace-designed hotel with 215 suites. The hotel element has not been unveiled yet and Jafar said it is likely to see a soft opening in the coming weeks.

“If you come to Palazzo Versace now you still don’t have the access road, which in the process of being completed, which will take an extra 6 to 12 weeks before we open up. So we are hoping all that gets done.

"Electricity, there is no power over there. We have been building and running the project with our own self-generation for the last seven years,” said Jafar.

“We are waiting for the road access in the next 6 to 12 weeks... We should be able to open up… We will have a soft opening,” he confirmed.

In October 2011, Enshaa Services Group, another subsidiary of Enshaa, took control of the project as part of a swap deal.

Under the agreement, Enshaa agreed to relinquish its stake in the Australian property in exchange for full ownership of the Palazzo Versace in Dubai.