Developer reviews projects as credit slows

One of the emirate's largest developers of hotels is looking at "reprioritising" some of its projects because of a lack of finance available in the market, the chief executive said. "We are in a very active discussion with the government and the banks," said Lee Tabler, chief executive of the Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC). "Everything that we have already launched is full speed ahead, but we are looking at some of the projects we haven't announced yet. The debt market is a little more careful."

These projects would include "several" hotels and mixed-use office buildings, he said on the sidelines of the MEED Abu Dhabi Conference on Sunday. He added that TDIC's signature projects, like the Louvre and Guggenheim, would be finished on schedule. The slowing down of some projects by TDIC is among the first signs that Abu Dhabi developers are being impacted by the global credit crisis. TDIC is owned by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, which is fully owned by the government of Abu Dhabi.

bhope@thenational.ae