U.S. real estate and gambling kingpin Donald Trump is joining forces with top Emirates developer Nakheel LLC to build a tulip-shaped hotel on a man-made island shaped like a palm tree.
The deal that Nakheel announced Wednesday brings together two of the world’s flashiest developers, and marks Trump’s first foray into the Middle East.
Nakheel says it has 14 projects worth $30 billion completed or planned. It is run by Dubai’s crown prince, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Dubai is one of the world’s fastest-growing cities and is emerging as a hub for business and tourism. The number of tourists doubled in 1999-2004 to reach 5.4 million.
The Trump Organization is not required to invest any money, but is providing its brand to projects that could be entirely financed and built by Nakheel, Bin Sulayem told Dow Jones Newswires.
“We’re tapping into his knowledge and ability in the high-end sector,” Nakheel Chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said of Trump.
Nakheel plans to break ground next year on a luxury hotel, The Palm Trump International Hotel and Tower, which will be built on the Palm Jumeirah, one of three palm-shaped islands that Nakheel is building off Dubai’s coast.
The Trump hotel will be the centerpiece of development on the “trunk” of the Palm Jumeirah island, where construction is under way on a residential and retail boulevard dubbed the Golden Mile.
An architect’s rendering of the hotel showed a cylinder-shaped building surrounded by four gold-sheathed petals resembling a flowering tulip.
Bin Sulayem and other Nakheel officials declined to provide details on the building’s size and cost.
A second project, The Trump Plaza and Marina Residences, will also be built on the Palm Jumeira, Nakheel announced in a statement.