Art Bay West Escrow Account

Commercial Bank of Dubai (PSC) holds the escrow account for Art Bay West, account number 1009*****2 (the complete number is in the Escrow Details section above). The account is linked to DLD project number 2996, registered with the Dubai Land Department on 6 June 2024, and the RERA inspection report names the same bank as the project's trust account bank.

The Dubai Land Department register lists Ellington Dutco Real Estate L.L.C as the developer of project 2996, Art Bay West. The project is marketed under the Ellington name, and the registered name is the one shown in the Escrow Details section and on the RERA inspection report for the project.

The Dubai REST app shows them under Services, then Project Status. A search for project number 2996 or the name Art Bay West opens the project record, and its Escrow panel lists the bank and the full account number. The same record carries the dated inspection reading, and the Sales and Purchase Agreement is the second reference the account number should match.

No. Off-plan payments for Art Bay West belong in the DLD-registered escrow account 1009*****2 at Commercial Bank of Dubai (the full number appears in the Escrow Details section above), as set out in the Sales and Purchase Agreement. The 4% DLD registration fee is the one booking-stage payment that goes elsewhere, to the Dubai Land Department. A request to send instalments to a personal account, an agent, or a different company account, particularly one offering a discount for paying outside escrow, matches the usual pattern of payment-diversion fraud however official it looks, and warrants a check against the Dubai REST escrow panel before any money moves.

The DLD register reading recorded on 12 May 2026 was 9.11%, up from a previous reading of 7.76% that the register card shows without a date. The RERA inspection report of the same day records enabling works at an advanced stage and foundation works progressing. Escrow releases to the developer follow recorded construction progress, so at this reading the construction value shown as built on the register is still a small share of the project. Dated readings are tracked on the Art Bay West construction updates page.

Reservation-date instalments follow each buyer's own calendar: 20% at booking, then 10% at 30 days, 10% at 90 days, 5% at 150 days and 5% at 240 days after the reservation date, 50% in total, regardless of site progress. The four construction-linked instalments of 5% each fall due only on completion of 30%, 40%, 50% and 60% construction of the project, and at the 9.11% reading of 12 May 2026 none had been triggered. Both kinds of payment go into the escrow account, and the 30% balance is due on completion.

The 30% balance falls due on completion of the project under the developer's 70/30 payment plan, and it is paid into the escrow account like the instalments before it. Q3 2026, the handover quarter in the original schedule for Art Bay West, has passed, so the timing of the completion payment follows the current expected handover date confirmed by Ellington in writing, and the Sales and Purchase Agreement sets out how the completion payment is called.

No. The 4% DLD registration fee is paid at booking alongside the 20% down payment, but it goes to the Dubai Land Department, not into the project escrow account. It is a government fee rather than a payment toward the apartment, so escrow does not hold it and escrow releases do not apply to it.

Nothing about the account changes when the calendar does: money already paid remains in escrow, releases still depend on recorded construction progress, and a retention for defect repairs is still kept back after completion. Escrow protects the capital while the building is completed, but it does not itself compensate buyers when a handover date moves; any such terms sit in the Sales and Purchase Agreement. The original Q3 2026 handover schedule has passed, and the current expected handover date is the one Ellington confirms in writing.

RERA takes control of the escrow account if a project is cancelled by the Dubai Land Department, and refunds owed to buyers are then paid out of the protected balance under DLD supervision. That safety net covers money paid into the registered account; money sent anywhere else sits outside it. The regulatory background to that rule is covered in the Dubai Land Department guide.

Yes. Under the escrow framework a retention portion of the project's funds stays in the account after completion to cover defect repairs, so part of the money is still held when buyers inspect and accept their apartments. The exact retention terms are set by the regulations and the Sales and Purchase Agreement.

Escrow protects payments made into the registered account and ties their release to recorded construction progress. It does not hold the 4% DLD registration fee, it does not cover payments sent to any other account, and it does not provide compensation for changes in the timetable, which are governed by the Sales and Purchase Agreement. It also does not guarantee a handover date; the original Q3 2026 handover schedule has passed, so confirm the current expected handover date with Ellington in writing and check your SPA.