Tiger Woods Dubai Golf Course Shelved

Online, February 4, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The Tiger Woods Dubai, a US$1.1 billion golf course and luxury property development designed by Tiger Woods, has been suspended indefinitely, according to an announcement by the property developer Dubai Properties.

The Tiger Woods Dubai was scheduled to open in late 2009 but ran into difficulties when the global financial crisis struck in 2008; property prices in Dubai crashed and, as a result, the opening of the Tiger Woods golf resort was pushed back on several occasions.

In November last year it was revealed that construction work on the two hundred and ninety two residential properties had never started and that most of the staff employed by Dubai Properties had been laid off months earlier.

In an official report, Dubai Properties released a statement regarding the suspension of the project; "This decision was based on current market conditions that do not support high-end luxury real estate. These conditions will continue to be monitored and a decision will be made in the future when to restart the project".

There are, however, strong doubts that The Tiger Woods Dubai will ever be completed, due to the large number of high-end property developments abandoned in Dubai last year. In spite of this, Dubai Properties said it will continue its commercial agreement with Tiger Woods and his organisation.

Tiger Woods is reported to have received a US$10 million fee for designing the golf course, as well as receiving royalties on property sales and his choice of mansion on the development, once completed.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Tiger Woods commented; "It's been put on hold for right now. A lot of projects are out there. It's still there. We've got six completed holes and a few that were about to be grassed before construction was halted. Everything is on hold."

Even by Dubai's standards the Tiger Woods Dubai was opulent, with mansions and palaces for sale, some priced as high as US$25 million. The project was also to feature a boutique hotel and a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Thirty percent of the properties at The Tiger Woods Dubai have already been sold and, at this time, it is not clear whether investors will have their deposits returned.

In the fourteen months since his infamous car crash outside his Florida home, Tiger Woods has endured the first season of his golfing career without a win. In the wake of the car crash scandal he lost many of his largest commercial sponsors including American telecoms company AT&T, financial firm Accenture and Gillette.

Now it seems the Tiger Woods brand is suffering further setbacks.

Article source... http://blog.oceanvillasgroup.com/tiger-woods-dubai-golf-course-shelved/

Rebecca Smith
Ocean Villas Group - http://www.oceanvillasgroup.com