The Portman Escrow Account

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) holds the escrow account for The Portman, account number 1015*****20003 (shown in full in the Escrow Details section above). The account is recorded against DLD project number 2537, which the Dubai Land Department registered on 10 January 2023.

No. All off-plan payments for The Portman belong in the DLD-registered escrow account 1015*****20003 at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (the full number is in the Escrow Details section above), as recorded in the Sales and Purchase Agreement. A request to pay a personal account, an agent's account or a different company account, particularly one that offers a discount for paying outside escrow, matches the usual shape of payment fraud however official the paperwork appears. The reference that settles any such request is the account registered in Dubai REST for project 2537, which no email or invoice can change.

The project is listed in Dubai REST under the register name The Portman and project number 2537, with ELLINGTON PROPERTIES DEVELOPMENT L.L.C, developer number 1117, as the registered developer. Its Escrow panel names Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank as the bank, and the account number shown there is the one that should match both the Escrow Details section of this page and the Sales and Purchase Agreement.

Under Ellington's 70/30 plan, 20% is paid at booking, 10% 60 days after the reservation date and 10% 120 days after it, followed by six instalments of 5% each on completion of 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70% construction, with the remaining 30% paid on completion. Each instalment is paid into the escrow account, and the bank releases funds to the developer only against construction progress recorded by DLD inspections. As of the 78.67% register reading recorded on 7 August 2026, all six construction-linked instalments had been triggered; the developer confirms when each falls due under each buyer's Sales and Purchase Agreement.

Escrow releases follow construction progress recorded by DLD inspections. The latest reading in the record for The Portman is 78.67%, recorded on 7 August 2026, up from a previous inspection reading of 56.66% that the register shows without a date. The RERA report from that inspection records enabling, foundation and structural works as completed, with MEP, the external envelope, internal works and internal finishes progressing. Each inspection is tracked on The Portman construction updates page.

No. The 4% DLD registration fee is paid at booking alongside the 20% down payment, but it goes to the Dubai Land Department rather than into the project escrow account. For a studio at the AED 680K starting price, that fee is AED 27,200 ≈ USD 7.4K.

The 30% due on completion is paid into the same DLD-registered escrow account at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank as every earlier instalment, not to a developer operating account or an agent. The Q3 2025 handover Ellington originally scheduled has passed, so the due date of this payment follows the current completion date, which Ellington confirms to buyers in writing and which is read against the completion clause of the Sales and Purchase Agreement.

The DLD registered completion date for The Portman, 30 September 2025, has passed, and the register read 78.67% at the 7 August 2026 inspection. The passing of a registered date does not release escrow funds: money already in the account stays there and is released to the developer only against construction progress recorded by DLD inspections. Escrow protects the capital paid in but does not itself pay compensation tied to the completion date; any such terms sit in the Sales and Purchase Agreement, and the current completion date is confirmed by Ellington in writing.

After completion, part of the funds stays in the escrow account as a retention against defect repairs, so money remains in the account while defects are reported and put right. At The Portman, inspection becomes possible once Ellington issues its handover or completion notice, before keys are collected and the 30% due on completion is paid. The inspection process is covered in The Portman snagging inspection guide.

If the Dubai Land Department cancels a registered project, RERA takes control of the escrow account and refunds to buyers are handled from the protected funds under DLD supervision. That protection reaches only money paid into the registered account; payments sent anywhere else fall outside it. The mechanism matters most for projects at an early stage, and at The Portman's 78.67% register reading of 7 August 2026 it stands as a backstop rather than a live question. The wider DLD framework for off-plan buyers is set out in the Dubai Land Department guide.

The escrow account protects capital paid into it for the construction of The Portman. It does not guarantee a completion date, pay compensation tied to the completion date, hold the 4% DLD registration fee, or protect money sent to any other account. It also has no bearing on rental income or resale value, which depend on the market rather than on the escrow framework.

The developer's brochure for The Portman lists four earlier Ellington buildings in Jumeirah Village Circle as delivered: Belgravia (181 units) in 2017, Belgravia II in 2019, Eaton Place (110 units) in 2019 and Belgravia III (260 units) in 2021. These are developer-published figures under the Ellington brand rather than entries from the DLD register, and they do not set a completion date for The Portman.