Ivory Tower-contracts cancelled

Hundreds of investors in the long-delayed Ivory Tower residential project in Dubai have been told by the developer, Sokook Investment Group, that their contracts will be cancelled and 20 per cent of the sales price kept.

Investors were told the move was made because they were in arrears in instalment payments, despite Sokook allegedly informing them a year ago that no further payment was due until construction began, according to The National.

“Since you were not able to pay within the due date and we did remind you of your payment schedule, please accept our apology that your contract has been cancelled automatically,” Sokook said to investors in a letter.

It added that Sokook would retain 20 per cent of the sales price as a cancellation fee.

Earlier this month, Sokook pledged to the Dubai Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera) that construction would begin on Nov 1 after a dispute over a bank guarantee with Tecom – the master developer of the International Media Production Zone, where Ivory Tower is to be located – was resolved.

Rera sent a statement to investors confirming that the issue had been resolved and that construction was likely to begin, albeit three years after the project was launched.

The latest move has provoked more fury among those investors who bought units off-plan.

“Sokook has said that the reason for cancelling our contracts was due to not receiving instalment payments from us on time, even though we were told in writing from Sokook [about a year ago] that our next payment instalment was put on hold until construction began,” an investor from the UK told the newspaper.

In the past week, several investors have allegedly threatened legal action against the Saudi Arabian company.
About 770 investors are believed to have bought property in Ivory Tower, 100 of whom were from the UK.

ArabianBusiness