Tameer investor threat will become clear in September

Tameer Holding Investment will not know until September whether a threat by investors to withhold payments for its AED6bn ($1.64bn) flagship project in Abu Dhabi was genuine, the president of the developer said on Wednesday.

Dubai-based Tameer was meeting with investors in Tameer Towers to discuss any concerns they may have before the next installment in payment was due in September, Federico Tauber told Arabian Business in an interview.

The Tameer Towers Group, which claims to represent around 50 investors with a combined investment of AED100m in the mixed-use development, said last month it was planning to cease payments for the project in protest at, what they claimed was, a lack of progress on the development.

“Our approach was to try and meet with all investors and try and understand their concerns, as in most cases they have financial problems so we wanted to know,” he said.

But he said some investors had been more reluctant to come forward.

“Maybe some people don’t want to talk as they cannot pay,” continued Tauber. “Who is going to be able to continue paying is something we will know down the road.  The next installment is in September.”

The developer recently slashed prices by as much as 40 percent at the project on Reem Island to AED1,800 a square foot for residential units and AED2,500 for offices following requests from investors to bring prices down in line with market levels.

It issued new payment schedules linked to construction completion of stages of the project in response to requests from investors, Tauber said.

The project is scheduled for delivery from December 2011 onwards.

Tameer on Wednesday announced the completion of Palace Towers, a AED500mn development within Dubai Silicon Oasis.

The company’s biggest project completed to date, the development includes 424 residential apartments and 150 offices, in addition to a retail space.

Apart from one office, all the units in the 45-storey development had already been sold to a mixture of end-users and investors shortly after construction commenced in March 2007, said Tauber.

End-users were expected to start moving from August into the building, which was completed by construction firm United Engineering Company four months behind the original delivery date.

Tauber said the firm was focusing on delivery of its AED20bn projects underway in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with Silver Tower in Dubai’s Business Bay its next project set for completion in December.

The firm was in the process of recruiting ten people in engineering, customer service and relationship management roles, he said. 

A slowdown in the real estate market in the UAE had forced the company to slash its workforce from 300 to 120 since November last year.

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