Union Properties agrees to sell Ritz-Carlton DIFC

By Bloomberg

Union Properties agreed to sell the Ritz-Carlton hotel development in Dubai for less than the asking price of AED1.5bn ($410m), chairman Khalid Bin Kalban said. 

Dubai’s third-biggest developer by market value plans to sign the sale agreement in the next 10 days, bin Kalban said by phone on Thursday. He declined to identify the buyer of the hotel, located within the Dubai International Financial Centre, or disclose terms of the deal until the contract is signed.

“Everything has been agreed, all that remains is the drafting of contracts,” bin Kalban said.

Proceeds from the sale will help Union complete other projects such as the Limestone House apartment building and the 80-storey Index skyscraper in the DIFC, a tax-free business park that houses hundreds of companies.

Union Properties halted development work after credit dried up in the financial crisis and more customers defaulted. In 2009, the company reported its first full-year loss and suspended work on F1-X, a Formula One theme park in the MotorCity development at the Dubai Autodrome race track.

The developer’s second-quarter loss widened to AED349 million from AED228 million a year earlier because of provisions for falling real estate values, according to a statement to the Dubai exchange on August 12.