Farayand Virtual World

* GCC funds seek real estate investments

With billions invested in it, the property market in the GCC is ripe for real estate funds, and about 20 such funds with Dh11 billion ($3 billion) are looking for investment opportunities, officials said.

"Corporatisation in the real estate market is currently taking place as more and more Gulf investors are putting their money in funds to be utilised for real estate assets and development projects," said Blair Hagkull, managing partner of RSP Group.

"Cross-border cooperation is taking place among Gulf investors, who earlier shunned the idea of putting money into funds.
"Though fund development in the region is still in early stage, the interest level is growing. With Dubai showing the way, most GCC countries are now coming up with mega projects with innovative ideas.
"New and innovative development ideas are being promoted and sought by the region's political leaders. As a result, we see new concepts and ideas being executed. We are getting a lot of inquiries to translate lands into projects and developments."

Historically, Gulf invest-ors and developers have been building their own projects without sharing their expertise.

"With economic integration, a lot of GCC investors are learning from Dubai's experience and we are lending our expertise," Hagkull said. RSP Group is currently putting together four project funds, estimated to total Dh3.67 billion ($1 billion. The company recently closed a Dh900 million ($250 million) hotel fund to develop 30 Express by Holiday Inn hotels, he said.

The fund for Express by Holiday Inn was announced during the Arabian Travel Market 2004. According to Hugkull, the fund has been closed and work on some of the hotels is about to start.
RSP Group, the largest real estate investment advisory firm based in the Middle East, has projects well over Dh183 billion ($50 billion) in the pipeline.
The group has advised a Dubai-government entity to invest in Morocco and Jordan, in large master-planned developments.

Seven out of eights projects in Dubailand are in the pipeline and to be announced by developers.
"During the last four years, we were involved in projects worth Dh550 billion ($150 billion)," Hagkull said.

"Interest in our expertise is so strong that we have opened an office in Istanbul to locate suitable investment opportunity in Turkey. There is ample scope for investment within the GCC, Middle East and North African regions."

The market, to an extent, has been suffering from too much liquidity looking for investment vehicles since September 11 that influenced repatriation of nearly Dh3.67 trillion in cash from Western markets.