Dubai: Shuaa Capital said it is aiming to begin construction on its recently-announced $400-million (Dh1.5 billion) tower by the end of this year, with residential sales expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2018.

The project, which will be managed by Shuaa’s real estate division, is expected to be ready for delivery in 2020, according to Fawad Tariq-Khan, general manager at Shuaa Capital.

Shuaa, the Dubai-listed financial services firm, last week announced plans for a new skyscraper on Shaikh Zayed Road near Business Bay. The property, called Dubawi, will comprise around 500 residential units and 500 hotel rooms and serviced apartments.

Tariq-Khan said the company is in talks with hotel operators and is close to finalising a deal to operate the hotel rooms and serviced apartments.

Shuaa announced the project at Cityscape Global, the property exhibition in Dubai. Speaking at the sidelines of the event, the general manager said Shuaa is planning to continue expanding its real estate portfolio.

“We’re strong believers in real estate. It’s a big part of the economy of the region over here, and we’ve been successful in it, so the idea is to grow that. We have [three hotels] in Saudi Arabia. One of them is operating in Jeddah, one has just finished in Riyadh, and the one in Dammam will be delivered next year. We have two other real estate projects in Saudi Arabia that we’re working on finalising right now,” he said.

Refocus

The new projects are expected to be announced over the next three to six months.

The focus on real estate and investment management comes as Shuaa works on selling around Dh100 million to Dh150 million in non-core assets in order to refocus on other operations.

“We have investment in some industrial companies and other funds. These are the ones that we are actively working on divesting from right now. The idea is not to speculate our capital on long-term investments; we’d rather focus on our investment management business,” Tariq-Khan said.

As part of that refocus, Shuaa announced in late July it entered into an agreement to acquire Integrated Capital and Integrated Securities to expand Shuaa’s presence as a financial services firm. Tariq-Khan said the company is currently “assessing a few opportunities” with regards to new acquisitions, and is open to new deals. He did not provide more details as talks are still ongoing.