Stalled Jordan project gets $240m from Abu Dhabi

A stalled tourism and residential project on the Red Sea in Jordan gets $240 million of investment from an Abu Dhabi company, the Aqaba Development Corporation says.

An Abu Dhabi company is injecting US$240 million (Dh881.4m) to restart a tourism project in Jordan's Red Sea city of Aqaba.

Work stopped on the development almost three years ago.

The Abu Dhabi company, which was not named, is investing the money in the Saraya development, says Mohammed S Turk, the chief executive of Aqaba Development, which is a stakeholder in Saraya. The project includes hotels to be managed by Dubai's Jumeirah Group and Starwood Hotels and Resorts, as well as a Wild Wadi water park, apartments, villas and a convention centre.

"I can assure you that the money is in the company's [Saraya's] account," Mr Turk said. "The declaration of this new partnership or new cash injection will be announced [soon] as well as the identity of the investor."

The project had stopped because of the global financial crisis, he said. The hoardings around the deserted site, located in the centre of the seaport city, have been heavily bleached by the sun, and the luxury hotel buildings, many of which were nearing completion, remain unfinished.

"Saraya just being there on pause caused a lot of headache and pessimism among all parties," Mr Turk said.

Sixty per cent of the villas have already been sold.

Mr Turk said he expects work to resume in a few months.

"It takes time to do all the formalities and assemble a new board of directors," he said.

The city is aiming to grow its tourism industry substantially with developments such as Saraya. Al Maabar, an Abu Dhabi developer, is working on a $10 billion mixed-use development further along the coast. Plans for a theme park with a Star Trek attraction has also been announced.

Aqaba has about 4,000 hotel rooms and hopes to increase capacity to 20,000 rooms.