Qatari Diar, a regional leader in sustainable real estate development, and NorthCourse, a global leisure real estate consulting and asset management company, have signed a joint venture partnership agreement, creating what is poised to be a significant player in luxury real estate brokerage in the Middle East and North Africa region. The company that will be established, Qatar Real Estate Partners, has obtained the exclusive franchise rights from Realogy International for the Sotheby's International Realty brand in Qatar, Morocco, Egypt and Oman.
The company will be headquartered in Doha, Qatar and will initially open Sotheby's International Realty offices in central Doha and Casablanca and expand into Cairo and Muscat in the near future.
The first development Qatar Real Estate Partners will bring to market is Qatari Diar's Al Houara coastal resort project near Tangiers, Morocco. Al Houara is a 2,300,000 m² tourism and mixed-use development including 2 luxury hotels, over 1,200 villas and apartments, and numerous on-site facilities including a world-class 18 holes golf course.
Qatar Real Estate Partners will focus on the distribution of Qatari Diar's extensive portfolio of luxury real estate projects and will additionally offer their brokerage and added value services to other developers and property owners across the region. NorthCourse will oversee the development and ongoing management of Qatar Real Estate Partners as well as provide leisure real estate consulting services to the partnership and to Qatari Diar.
"Qatar Real Estate Partners will allow Qatari Diar to focus on our core strength of developing sustainable communities," commented Nasser Al Ansari, the Chief Executive Officer of Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment & Development Company. "We are confident that the combined capabilities of Qatari Diar, NorthCourse and the international networks of Sotheby's International Realty and RCI will be a world-class winning combination and expand our window to the world."
Preben Vestdam, the President and Chief Executive Officer of NorthCourse noted, "We are excited about the opportunity of partnering with Qatari Diar to help build the sales brokerage and distribution services for their $20 billion real estate development pipeline. NorthCourse plans on making Qatar Real Estate Partners one of the most respected real estate brokerage companies in the region."
Qatar Real Estate Partners has simultaneously signed an agreement with RCI Global Vacation Network to provide buyers with a "Personal Use, Rental and Exchange (PURE)" service that will enable owners to generate rental income on their property, exchange vacation time into RCI's network of over 4,000 resorts properties world-wide and gain access to personalized concierge and travel services. As the world's largest company in vacation exchange and rental, RCI will manage real estate rental distribution and a private labelled Diar Club for owners of Diar developed properties.
"Working with Qatari Diar and NorthCourse to build a number of Sotheby's International Realty franchises in the region is an indication of our confidence in these key industry players. We believe that the ability of Qatari Diar to deliver high-quality real estate projects, the management capabilities of NorthCourse and the potential for growth in these countries are an ideal combination for our brand in the region" commented Michael Good, President and CEO of Sotheby's International Realty Associates Inc.
Source: Brown Lloyd James
