Abu Dhabi National Hotels (ADNH) has appointed Al Hamad Building Contracting Co. as the main contractor for Nasim Al Bahr Residences — a resort-residence project under The Luxury Collection brand on Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah. The contract is valued at AED 2.2 billion (around US$599 million), piling is complete, and the project is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2028. The award was disclosed to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
What ADNH actually signed off
The contract closes the project's key construction stage: Al Hamad Building Contracting Co. takes on the main works package for Nasim Al Bahr Residences. The award was filed with the regulator via the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange — ADNH is listed on ADX, and contracts of this scale are subject to mandatory corporate disclosure.
At the moment the contractor is named, piling on the site is already complete — a technical milestone for coastal projects on Al Marjan Island, where ground conditions demand dedicated engineering. The next step is the superstructure and façade, with handover targeted for Q4 2028.
Nasim Al Bahr: format and brand
Nasim Al Bahr Residences is a combined scheme in which hotel and residential units sit on one site under a single brand. Per the ADX disclosure, the project comprises 495 hotel keys and villas (including 29 standalone villas) and 447 branded residences. The operating brand is The Luxury Collection, Marriott International's premium line focused on destination resorts. Exclusive sales and marketing of the residences is handled by One Broker Group (OBG).
For the market this is the third sizeable signal on Al Marjan over two years: Wynn Al Marjan (an integrated gaming resort opening in 2027) brought in ALEC as main contractor, and JW Marriott Al Marjan Island went to China Road and Bridge Corporation at around US$350 million. Nasim Al Bahr at AED 2.2 billion sits in between — premium without a casino.
The Al Marjan Island and Ras Al Khaimah backdrop
Al Marjan Island is a man-made archipelago of four islands off Ras Al Khaimah's coast, which the emirate has spent the past few years positioning as the UAE's northern resort cluster. Since Ras Al Khaimah's 2022 decision to legalise commercial gaming and the launch of Wynn Resort on the island, entry-level pricing in Al Marjan real estate has moved up visibly, and branded residences have become the main route in for retail investors.
Total return on such assets does not come only from the operating brand and the achieved rate — it also tracks the fee structure: service charges, management commission, how nights are split between the owner and the operational pool. How this works in practice and where ROI leaks are explained in a separate article on Dubai real estate ROI.
What this means for an investor
For a private-segment buyer the news matters on three counts. First, with the main contractor named, the project moves from "launched on plan" to active construction — the risks typical of the pre-piling phase have been cleared. Second, the published contract value (AED 2.2 billion for the hotel block) sets a transparent benchmark against which to measure residence prices and the real capital base behind the scheme. Third, purchases of branded residences factor into Golden Visa eligibility through real estate — a route with its own rules on mortgage, off-plan status and combined unit value, which is covered in detail in our guide to the Golden Visa through property with the AED 2 million threshold.
A Q4 2028 opening pushes first occupancy and the move to stabilised yield roughly three years out. That is a standard off-plan timeline for a UAE project of this size: during that window a buyer typically works to a staged payment schedule from the developer rather than a single lump-sum.
This material is informational and is not an investment recommendation. Deal terms, unit specifications, payment schedules and the current detail of Marriott / The Luxury Collection's branded programme should be verified with the developer and authorised agents. The purchase decision rests with the investor and their advisers.
