Starwood Partners on $680M Luxury Hotel-Residential Project in Dubai

Starwood Capital Group has joined forces with Pearl Dubai FZ L.L.C. to develop the Baccarat Hotel and Residences at the sprawling $4 billion Dubai Pearl mixed-use development in Dubai. The project will cost $680 million to complete. Starwood Capital’s partner on the Baccarat project Pearl Dubai FZ, is a consortium of investors led by Al Fahim Group, and is behind the development of the behemoth Dubai Pearl endeavor, which sits within the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone adjacent to the Palm Jumeirah. The Baccarat Hotel segment, carrying a development price tag of $408 million, will consist of 500,000 square feet encompassing 342 guestrooms. Approximately $272 million will be invested in the residential portion of the project. It was one year ago that Starwood Capital announced the creation of the upper-upscale Baccarat Hotels & Resorts brand. Starwood Capital, through an affiliate, owns an 86 percent stake in the two-century-old Baccarat company, which is world renowned for its production of fine crystal. The first Baccarat Hotel and Residences will be in Wailea, Hawaii, and is scheduled to debut in 2010 with 193 condo-hotel rooms on property that Starwood Capital snapped up last year for $85 million. The Dubai project is on target to open its doors in 2011. Established in 1991, Starwood Capital is leading real estate investment concern with an international investor base ranging from prominent state and corporate pension funds to endowments to high-net worth families. The company has invested approximately $6 billion of equity capital in transactions with a total asset value of $30 billion.