Shaza Hotels To Open Six New Properties In Middle East

Shaza Hotels, an independent five-star luxury hotel operator, has signed six new hotels across the Middle East that are set to open between 2016 and 2019 in addition to its existing Shaza Al Madinah in Saudi Arabia.

At the Arabian Travel Market (ATM), Sheikh Salem bin Ahmed Al Ghazali, chairman of Golden Group of Companies, and Salman Al Mohannadi, chairman of Shaza Hotels also signed an agreement of management for the new ‘Shaza Muscat’ that will comprise 250 hotel rooms and 150 hotel apartments, as part of a mixed–use development. The hotel will be welcoming its first guests in the third quarter of 2019.

Further identifying an opportunity to offer Arabian lifestyle in an upscale environment, the brand is launching Mysk by Shaza, a four-star experience with its flagship hotel opening in March 2017 in Al Mouj, Muscat.

Inspired by the Arabic pronunciation of musk, Mysk carries the fragrance of Shaza into a renewed and festive worldliness. Like its parent, Mysk is born out of the Middle Eastern culture, awakening the senses with its enchanting aroma, and creating a theatrical experience that is closely tied to the rich and ever evolving Arabian culture.

The years 2016 and 2017 are a key milestone in the expansion plan of Shaza Hotels and Mysk by Shaza. The third quarter of 2016 will witness the grand opening of Shaza Hotel in Makkah while negotiations are underway for new Shaza projects in Europe, which marks an important new chapter for the brand outside the Middle-East.

Further to the launch of Mysk by Shaza in 2016, five hotels are to be signed in the region by the end of 2017, including two projects currently under negotiation in Saudi Arabia.

Commenting on the chain’s ground-breaking projects in the pipeline, Simon Coombs, CEO of Shaza Hotels, said: “2016 is definitely a landmark year for Shaza Hotels and we are excited to be unveiling our imminent projects across the Middle East.

In a meaningful partnership and dialogue with our owners, we take pride in creating each Shaza Hotel to be a bespoke experience where we deliver the highest standards to our guests. I am now very excited to extend this experience to our new brand Mysk by Shaza."

UAE: Sharjah Waterfront CIty Third Largest Mixed-use Project In GCC

Sharjah Waterfront City, a multi-billion dollar development on Sharjah’s northeast coast announced at Cityscape Global last September, has been listed as the third largest mixed-use project in the Gulf by MEConstructionNews.com. The AED 20 billion (US$ 5.4b) project, being developed by Sharjah Oasis Real Estate Development, is Sharjah’s largest master-planned mixed-use development project to-date and will be built over 10 islands covering an area of 60 million square feet along 36 kilometers of waterfront.

Other massive developments in MEConstructionNews.com’s ‘Top 10 Gulf mixed-use projects’ list include the Jeddah Tower and Jeddah Economic City in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, listed in first place with a projected investment estimated at US$21 billion, and Mohammed Bin Rashid City – District One in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, listed as the second largest development with an estimated investment of US$5.7 billion.

Sharjah Oasis Real Estate Development Co., the developer of Sharjah Waterfront City, signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sharjah-based Invest Bank to finance the first phase of the projects development. According to the developer, the first phase of the project is budgeted at AED 9.5 billion (US$ 2.6 billion) and will include a central business district, 24 mixed-use towers, a large shopping centre, a luxury hotel and other tourism facilities. The developer expects phase one to be completed in 2018.

The real estate company began its first round of sales for residential units in the project last year. The developer has also signed MoUs with Shaza Hotels (an affiliate of the Kempinski Group), for the ‘Shaza – Sharjah Waterfront City’, a five-star hotel consisting of 300 rooms and 350 serviced apartments; and with Dusit Hotels and Resorts for the development of a 200 room hotel with 200 serviced apartments.

Sharjah updated its property market laws in 2014 to allow foreign expatriates living in the United Arab Emirates to acquire property in zones authorised by the government. Previously, property could only be sold to UAE nationals, other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nationals and Arab nationals with a valid UAE resident visa, but not to the many other nationalities living in the Emirates. The new laws allow non-Arab expatriates in the UAE to purchase 100 year leaseholds for pre-authorised real estate projects.