Morning round-up: Cirrus changes the game

Faced with difficulty in finishing its projects because of the financial crisis, Cirrus Developments is offering investors the chance to become shareholders in a new company to run its Aquarius Gate project, Angela Giuffrida reports this morning. With developers across the country struggling to continue operations, this is likely to be the first of many financial innovations in the coming months to keep projects going. The new company will be 30 per cent owned by Cirrus and the rest owned by investors. The trick still is convince the 108 buyers in the building to agree to the terms.

Photo caption: Behman Eshragh (right), Chairman & CEO and Rehan Khan COO of Cirrus Developments at Cirrus's office in Dubai. on Wednesday, March 25, 2009. Photo: Charles Crowell for The National

In other news ... Dubai property brokers say rents are starting to drop as distressed owners try to cut their losses, Jay Hilotin reports in Xpress. In the "highly urbanised and sought-after areas of Bur Dubai and Karama", prices have declined by 40 per cent to Dh60,000 a year. Mansour Yousuf, a broker at Apico Real Estate, put it nicely: "It's a good time for tenants and investors. The market is totally different now. Today, when I get 25 rental queries, maybe three of them may be finalised. Four months ago, if I attended to 25 queries, 22 would be finalised."

Murray & Roberts confirms the cancellation of its contract for Tameer Towers on Reem Island. We reported on Tameer's decision two days ago.

Three banks have agreed to finance buyers at the Bloom Gardens project in Abu Dhabi.