Art Bay East Escrow Account

Commercial Bank of Dubai (PSC) holds the escrow account for Art Bay East, account number 1009*****2 (the full number is available in the Escrow Details section above). The Dubai Land Department register lists the account against project number 2994, registered on 6 June 2024.

In the Dubai REST app, Project Status under Services returns the project by number 2994 or by its register name, Art Bay East. The Escrow Account panel shows Commercial Bank of Dubai (PSC) as the bank together with the account number, which should match the Escrow Details section of this page and the escrow details in the Sales and Purchase Agreement. Where any source differs, the Dubai REST record is the authority.

The Dubai Land Department register and the RERA inspection report record the developer of Art Bay East as Ellington Dutco Real Estate L.L.C, developer number 1535. The project is marketed under the Ellington name, and the escrow account at Commercial Bank of Dubai is held for the registered project, number 2994.

Under the developer's published 70/30 plan, 20% is paid at booking and a further 30% in instalments at 30, 90, 150 and 240 days after the reservation date, so 50% is payable inside 240 days of the date each buyer reserved, regardless of site progress. Four further 5% instalments fall due at 30%, 40%, 50% and 60% construction. All of these payments go into the escrow account. At the DLD register reading of 10.42% recorded on 12 May 2026, none of the construction-linked instalments had been triggered. Later readings are tracked on the Art Bay East construction updates page.

Buyer payments for Art Bay East are not paid straight to the developer. The escrow bank releases funds against construction progress recorded through Dubai Land Department inspections, so the amount the developer can draw follows the work on site rather than the payment calendar. The DLD register reading recorded on 12 May 2026 was 10.42%, an early stage of construction, with enabling works at an advanced stage and foundation and structure works progressing according to the RERA inspection report.

The final 30% under the developer's plan is due on completion and is paid into the escrow account like the earlier instalments. Q3 2026, the handover quarter in the original schedule for Art Bay East, has now passed, so the timing of the completion payment follows the current completion date confirmed by Ellington and the terms of the Sales and Purchase Agreement.

No. The 4% DLD registration fee is paid to the Dubai Land Department, not into the project escrow account, and it is not part of the purchase price held for construction. Under the developer's booking steps, the down payment and the registration fees are completed before the copies of the Sales and Purchase Agreement are issued for signing.

The escrow mechanics do not change with the calendar. Money already paid remains held in escrow, and the bank still releases it only in step with recorded construction progress, whatever the handover date. Escrow protects capital while the building is completed; it does not compensate buyers when a handover date moves, and any such terms sit in the Sales and Purchase Agreement. The original Q3 2026 schedule for Art Bay East has passed, and the current expected handover date is the one Ellington confirms in writing.

No. Payments for Art Bay East during construction belong in the DLD-registered escrow account 1009*****2 at Commercial Bank of Dubai (the full number is in the Escrow Details section above), as recorded in the Sales and Purchase Agreement. A request to pay into a personal account, a broker's account or a different company account, particularly one offered with a discount, follows the usual pattern of payment fraud however genuine the paperwork appears. Such a request is measured against the Dubai REST record and the escrow clause of the SPA before a single dirham moves.

RERA takes control of the escrow account if a project is cancelled by the Dubai Land Department, and repayments to buyers are then made out of the money held in that account, under DLD supervision. That protection reaches only money paid into the registered account; payments made anywhere else sit outside it. The framework is set out in the Dubai Land Department guide.

Escrow protects buyer payments toward construction; it is not insurance against every outcome. It does not guarantee a handover date, does not pay compensation, and does not protect money sent to any account other than the registered one. The 4% DLD registration fee, which goes to the Dubai Land Department, and service charges payable once the building operates are outside it. Delivery timing, specification and remedies are governed by the Sales and Purchase Agreement.

According to Ellington's announcements, handover of Harrington House, a 92-residence building, began on 1 November 2022, which the developer described as ahead of schedule, and Ellington also presents Belgravia Heights I, DT1, Wilton Terraces and Wilton Park Residences as completed projects. None of these is in Al Jaddaf. Art Bay East is registered to a separate developer entity, so this record reflects the Ellington brand rather than the registered project company, and the dated register readings for Art Bay East remain the direct evidence for this building.