Timeshare in Makka
The first timeshare property in Saudi Arabia is being built in the holy city of Makka, next to the Grand Mosque.
The Zam Zam Tower Complex will offer leases ranging from royal suite to studio for periods of one or two weeks over 24 years, the newspaper Arab News said.
A studio during the close season would cost $5,000 a year, $22,000 during the first three weeks of the fasting month of Ramadan and $80,000 over the last 10 days of Ramadan.
The project, which enjoys official backing, is funded by Sharia-compliant finance based both on an Islamic bond, Sukuk al-Ijara, and on a Sukuk al-Intifaa or timeshare bond.
Internet
Bondholders may trade their stake via the internet, the daily said.
Interest in the timeshares has been so strong that plans for similar projects in the twin holy city of Madina are underway, it added.
The Waqf religious authorities who own the land adjacent to the mosques in Makka and Madina leased the land for 28 years to the giant Bin Ladin Construction Group on a Build-Operate-Transfer agreement, involving a shopping centre, four towers and a hotel.
The Bin Ladin Group in turn leased the project to the Kuwait-based Munshaat Real Estate Projects KSC.
Munshaat in December issued a $390-million sukuk, which, according to Munshaat managing director Mishal al-Amri was oversubscribed within the first two weeks.