Nakheel has sold two Palm Jumeirah plots to hotel developers for about Dh700 million, a welcome financial tonic as the developer seeks to refinance as much as Dh8 billion.
The deals come amid a flurry of hotel development across Dubai as the emirate aims to double visitor numbers to 20 million by 2020.
Nakheel sold one plot on the west of the palm-shaped artificial peninsula for Dh556m, and another on the Palm's east for Dh139m.
"Land in prime real estate locations - such as Palm Jumeirah - is clearly in big demand," said a company spokesman. "We expect that demand to increase further as more and more attractions come on stream."
The company is in talks with lenders to refinance Dh8bn of its debt, the company chairman Ali Rashid Lootah said last week.
"We are looking to refinance this debt and are talking to banks," Mr Lootah told Reuters. The loans will mature in 2015. A US$1.2bn Nakheel bond matures a year later.
Nakheel's sukuk yields have spiked following a sell-off of Dubai credit during the past two months, as the US Federal Reserve hints at a tightening of interest rates next year and risky emerging market fixed income investments fell out of favour globally.
Yields on the developer's Islamic bonds rose 277 basis points to above 10 per cent, before sliding to 9.62 per cent yesterday. Bond yields move in the opposite direction from price.
Interest from hotel operators in the Palm remains strong, and a total of 17 new hotels have been announced. Some, like the Viceroy, are already under construction, and a new Sofitel is about to open.
* with additional reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter
