This year has witnessed a number of significant real estate transactions in the GCC with the latest Dh289 million ($79 million) sale of Al Murjan, a residential tower in Abu Dhabi, showcasing renewed investor interest for high quality assets, according to leading real estate firm JLL.

Al Murjan tower is a 23-storey mixed-use development with residential apartments, retail facilities, and office space.

The development sits within a high-end master-planned development at Danet in tthe UAE capital with easy access to Abu Dhabi city centre and the E11 Sheikh Zayed Road.

In what represents the second large regional transaction that JLL has advised on this year, the recently announced sale of Al Murjan by Aldar Investments is another indication of the availability of capital in the market and the search amongst both private and institutional investors for institutional grade and stable income generating real estate assets.

This transaction follows the successful closing in February of the sale of Lulu Hypermarket’s central distribution centre in Muscat, Oman.

In this transaction, JLL was a key advisor to the seller, an institutional real estate investment fund.  

Abdul Kader Monla, the director, Capital Markets in Mena, JLL said: "We are seeing a market shift across the region with significant investments already witnessed in the first quarter of the year despite what was marked as a year of uncertainty."

"Transactions of this scale demonstrate renewed investor confidence, particularly in assets proving stable revenues," he added.-TradeArabia News Service