Ras Al Khaimah — Almal Real Estate Development has completed the concrete structure of its 422-unit hotel and residences project on Ras Al Khaimah’s Al Marjan Island, the Dubai-based developer said on Tuesday, but gave no date for when the property will open.
The Unexpected Al Marjan Island Hotel & Residences, to be operated by Spain’s Palladium Hotel Group, is now more than 50% built, according to Almal. The developer said at the 2024 launch that it would open in the second half of 2026. Later company statements moved that to 2027.
The timing matters for buyers of Al Marjan Island branded residences because the island’s main draw, Wynn Resorts’ casino resort, is due to open in September 2027.
Regulator put progress at 42% in July
Almal said the Ras Al Khaimah Real Estate Regulatory Administration (RERA-RAK) recorded construction at 42% in July. The regulator has not published a later figure, and the 50% estimate is the company’s own.
With the frame complete, work has shifted to glazing, mechanical and electrical systems, internal walls and fit-out. Those works are progressing simultaneously across the development, chief operating officer Mohammed Khader said in the statement.
Almal did not say how long fit-out would take. It plans an event in December to mark the topping out.
Al Marjan Island branded residences tied to Wynn’s September 2027 date
Wynn Resorts said in August that Wynn Al Marjan Island would open in September 2027, after the regional conflict suspended work for a period earlier this year. It raised the estimated construction cost by $600 million to about $5.7 billion. Wynn owns 40% of the joint venture behind the resort and had contributed $1.06 billion in cash by the end of June.
Hotel-managed homes earn their income from visitors, and the 1,542-room resort is expected to bring more of them. Yousir Habib, associate director at consultancy Cavendish Maxwell in Ras Al Khaimah, has described Wynn as a key medium-term driver of housing demand near Al Marjan Island.
Almal says its site is less than a minute from the resort.
13,800 Ras Al Khaimah homes due by end-2028
Ras Al Khaimah recorded 1,274 property sales worth 1.353 billion dirhams ($368 million) in the first half of 2026, state news agency WAM reported, citing the emirate’s Lands and Properties Sector.
Prices are still rising, but more slowly. ValuStrat’s index for the emirate’s freehold homes was up 5.4% year on year in the second quarter, and slightly lower than in the first.
Cavendish Maxwell expects 13,800 new homes to be completed by the end of 2028, 7,500 of them in that year, and has said absorbing them will depend on job growth. CBRE counts about 9,000 hotel keys in the emirate, with 8,500 more planned for 2027 to 2030. It estimates branded residences make up about 40% of the 2026-2029 residential pipeline.
Almal’s 6,300-dirham price and India’s $250,000 cap
Almal has said its Al Marjan Island branded residences sold for 6,300 dirhams per square foot, which it called the highest price on the island. The figure could not be independently verified. CBRE data reported by Enterprise AM in February put prime apartments in Ras Al Khaimah at about 2,400 dirhams per square foot.
Indian residents can send up to $250,000 a year abroad under the Reserve Bank of India’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme, and family members can pool their limits only as co-owners. At Almal’s stated rate, a 700-square-foot unit would cost about 4.4 million dirhams ($1.2 million), nearly five years of one person’s allowance.
Not disclosed: handover date, rental terms
“For us, the most important story is delivery,” founder Dmitriy Starovoitov said in the statement.
The statement did not give a handover date or say whether the hotel and residences would be completed together. It did not disclose how rental income would be split between owners and Palladium, what management fees owners would pay, or how many units remain unsold.
The project’s stated value has also changed, from $280 million at its 2024 launch to $400 million in a 2026 company statement. The statement did not explain the difference.
A further delay would push the hotel’s opening closer to Wynn’s and into the year Cavendish Maxwell expects new supply to peak. Ras Al Khaimah rules issued in 2023 require developers to hold buyer payments in escrow and fund at least 20% of construction costs. That protects money paid in, but not rental returns or resale prices.
($1 = 3.6725 dirhams)
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