DOHA, QATAR—T.R. ENGEL Group-Middle East, LLC, a subsidiary of Boston, MA-based T.R. ENGEL Group, LLC, is now a registered company in Qatar, licensed under the corporate requirements of the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA) with regional GCC headquarters offices located in Doha.
TRE-ME is the first lodging-focused firm to be awarded licensing under the QFCA. TRE-ME joins such other international firms as McKinsey & Co., Goldman Sachs and The Royal Bank of Scotland. Since its inception in 2005, the QFCA has awarded licensing to fewer than 200 companies.
The TRE-ME mandate is to deliver cost-effective lodging advisory and asset management services to GCC-focused hotel real estate investors and developers. These services include project development, asset management, owners’ representation and general real estate.
“Our Doha representation has been in place since late 2011. Achieving QFCA registration positions TRE-ME as the sole lodging-focused firm to hold this distinction for which we are most grateful,” stated Matthew Engel, Managing Principal and head, TRE-ME. “Along with our extensive background in global and Qatar hospitality, we look forward to the opportunity to play a key role in the success of the country’s lodging industry both for existing and future projects.”
TRE-ME has worked on four major Qatar hotel and resort developments during the last two years providing market feasibility studies, financial underwriting, detailed hotel programming, design reviews, brand operator selection and hotel management agreements negotiation. Projects include the Anantara Doha Island Resort & Spa, the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Doha Old Town, the Hilton Salwa Beach Resort & Spa and concepts for the Doha Grand Park development.
“Qatar is in the midst of a major lodging boom designed to satisfy two major milestones ahead: The World Cup in 2022 and implementation of the Qatar Tourism Strategy 2030,” Engel added. “More than 240 estimated properties have been proposed by the QTA.”