Dubai, July 13, 2009: IFA Hotels & Resorts (IFA HR) recently completed all the main building work on its Fairmont Residences, Palm Jumeirah project in Dubai, marking an important milestone for this five star development.

The Fairmont Residences, Palm Jumeirah is located directly on the beach on the western portion of the island's trunk. The development consists of two residential buildings with 562 units comprising of one, two and three bedroom apartments, townhouses and penthouses, with extensive landscaping, swimming pools and waterfalls. All residences will be managed by the Fairmont Palm Jumeirah hotel (scheduled to open 2010), which is positioned between the two residential buildings. 

Werner Burger, IFA HR President & COO, said: "We are delighted to have reached this key milestone of the project's realisation and thank our development partners on their good work thus far.  We are now busy with all the interior finishes, bringing us one step closer to delivering yet another high end product to our valued customers." 

The residential development is on target for completion with the first units completed during the end of quarter three 2009, followed by the handover to owners soon after.  Finishing works are swiftly progressing on the external works, the penthouse levels as well as the swimming pools and landscaping. The beach profiling is planned to get underway during August 2009, while preparations are being made for all testing and commissioning works. There are currently 2,800 people working daily on site and the collective working hours achieved by the total workforce is 14 million hours. 

Abdallah Yabroudi, CEO of Dubai Contracting Company commented: "This was our first contracted IFA Hotels & Resorts project.  We are well equipped with rich experience gained in the Dubai construction industry with skilled labour and resources to take on a project of this size. We look forward to delivering an excellent product."

Operations Board Director for Mace (the project and programme managers), Nic Alford, commented: "This has been a positively challenging project, but we are confident we are going to complete on time and hand over what will be another successful project."

Since the residences will be managed by the adjacent five star Fairmont Palm Jumeirah hotel, residents will enjoy superior five star services and facilities, as one would expect from an international five star brand, from traditional concierge services to additional 'a la carte' services including housekeeping, grocery shopping and more. Both buildings will benefit from 24-hour security and maintenance services, as well as a variety fitness and leisure facilities.  Residents will also enjoy the proximity to the Golden Mile, Palm Jumeirah project with many planned retail outlets opening in the near future.

Burger concluded: "We are in the process of handing over the Golden Mile, Palm Jumeirah residences which began in May; delivery to our customers is our number one priority at the moment and we are continuing to achieve this across our different projects despite the current market climate." 

-Ends-

About IFA Hotels & Resorts - www.ifahotelsresorts.com 
IFA Hotels & Resorts is a leader in real estate development, specialising in premier integrated and mixed-use hotel and tourism resort projects throughout the Middle East, Europe, Africa, the Indian Ocean region, Asia and North America.

IFA Hotels & Resorts' activity in resort development began in the mid 80s with the acquisition and development of Pine Cliffs Resort in the Algarve, Portugal, through United Investments Portugal, which is part of the IFA Consortium.

The grandeur of Pine Cliffs provided the ideal environment for investment in the real estate sector as well as residential homes and resort living, and thus the consortium's link with the hospitality sector developed. Today, IFA Hotels & Resorts sets the international benchmark for the development of world class integrated real estate development.

A specialist in resort development, IFA Hotels & Resorts enjoys close links to premier hospitality operators such as Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Kempinski Hotels and Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, appointed to manage properties around the world.

IFA Hotels & Resorts listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange in January 2006, with a market capitalisation of over US$ 1 billion. The company also listed on the South African JSE Limited (Johannesburg Stock Exchange) during 2006 with plans to list on other major exchanges in the future. In January 2007, the company invested in listed Thai developer Raimon Land.

Globally, IFA Hotels & Resorts has entered into strategic alliances and joint venture partnerships with leading companies such as Kingdom Hotel Investment Group (Saudi Arabia), Nakheel (UAE), United Investments Portugal, YOTEL (UK), a strategic alliance with RCI (part of the Cendant's Group), Tongaat Hulett Developments (South Africa), Boschendal Ltd (South Africa), Raimon Land (Thailand), Ohlthaver & List (Namibia), Indian Ocean Resorts (Seychelles)and most recently Related (United States).

IFA Hotels & Resorts' current portfolio consists of 40 projects in total, of which 23 are hotels, with a total of 17,000 keys.  Assets under management are valued at US$ 10 billion. 

The company is present in 13 markets across 4 continents: Kuwait, Dubai, Lebanon, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Portugal, France, South Africa, Zanzibar, Namibia, Seychelles, Thailand and New York, with plans to link its resorts to new parts of the globe. This will offer investors and tourists access to world class facilities through a network of hotels, residential resorts, vacation and residence club destinations.

IFA Hotels & Resorts' programme of brand acquisition and developer partnerships will continue into the future, illustrated by the ever growing strength of its product range: residences, hotels, resorts, hotel ownership, fractional ownership, vacation clubs, lifestyle membership clubs, yacht ownership clubs and jet ownership clubs.

This unique product range enables IFA Hotels & Resorts to continuously anticipate and deliver to the varying property investment and leisure requirements across the globe. 

Press Contact 
Annika Vaughan - PR manager, IFA Hotels & Resorts
T + 971 4 391 2022
M +971 50 708 2889
F + 971 4 360 4481  
E annika.vaughan@ifahotelsresorts.com 

© Press Release 2009