Around 20 investors in Abu Dhabi’s long-delayed $1.9bn Tameer Towers project have won arbitration cases against a Dubai-based developer and another 30 cases are due to be heard over the next two to three months, a lawyer working on the cases told Arabian Business.
The project, located on Al Reem Island in Abu Dhabi, was meant to consist of two 227 metre tall towers and include 1,050 units and retail spaces.
The original delivery date for the towers was scheduled for June 2011 and by late 2011 Tower A had only reached the 13th floor while only four floors of Tower B were build.
Around 65 investors told Arabian Business in November 2011 they were planning to move forward with legal action against the developer, Dubai-based Tameer Holding.
In February 2012, Tameer issued a statement claiming the project was “moving ahead” and the first phase of development would be completed fourth quarter of 2013.
However, Shamjeed Nayan, a legal advisor at law firm House of Justice said no new work ever took place at the site and the project has now effectively stalled.
“Regarding the project, it didn’t move a millimetre since four years, it is still the same. The suspension was increasing day by day and we don’t know what is going on or what is happening,” Navan told Arabian Business this week.
“When Tameer started to suspend the project it started to remove the crew until there was not a single labourer on the site and then they removed the cranes and then any machinery and now when you go there the site is empty.”
As a result of the lack of progress, Navan said around 50 of the investors moved forward with legal action. Around 20 have so far been successful and were awarded an undisclosed amount of compensation from Tameer.
“The arbitration award revoked the relationship between the clients and Tameer and ruled that the agreements are terminated. Secondly, refunding the paid amounts from Tameer and giving proper compensation to my clients for the damage. Tameer didn’t deliver the project so the compensation was an amount equivalent to the rent on the units,” Navan said.
A further 30 cases will come before the arbitration centre “in the next two to three months” and Navan predicted that “all of them, will small luck, will be successful.”
Tameer declined to comment on the cases when contacted by Arabian Business.
The Business Bay-based developer is also working on the Princess Tower project in Dubai, which will be the tallest residential tower in the world when complete. It is also working on the Elite Residence tower in Dubai Marina and Regal and Silver Towers in Business Bay.
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