Fire-hit The Address Downtown Dubai hotel will not reopen in 2016

There had been no negative impact on Emaar’s balance sheet from the hotel’s temporary closure.

The Address Downtown Dubai after the New Year’s Eve fire. Jon Gambrell / AP Photo
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The Address Downtown Dubai hotel, which was badly damaged by a fire on New Year’s Eve, will not reopen this year, an Emaar Hospitality Group executive said.

Chris Newman, director of operations, told Reuters that there had been no negative impact on Emaar’s balance sheet from the hotel’s temporary closure.

Emaar Properties included a Dh301 million writedown when it posted its fourth-quarter earnings in February because of the blaze.

An electrical short circuit on a spotlight was the cause of the fire at the 63-storey tower, Dubai Police said in January. There were no fatalities.

Emaar said just a few days after the blaze that it had hired Dubai-based Dutco Group as the contractor to undertake restoration work on the hotel “in record time”.

Separately, Emaar said last week that it would be opening a new Address hotel in Dubai in the final quarter of 2016.

The Address Boulevard will be housed on the lower floors of a new, 72-storey Downtown Dubai tower linked to The Dubai Mall.

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