UAE developer Arada has awarded two contracts worth Dh939 million ($256 million) in total to speed up the construction of its Dh8 billion Masaar project in Sharjah.
The contracts were awarded to Abu Dhabi’s Pivot Engineering and General Contracting and Sharjah-based contractor Intermass, the developer said on Monday.
Pivot will build 421 villas and townhouses within Masaar’s second residential phase, Kaya, as part of a Dh401 million contract, while Intermass will construct 565 villas and townhouses in Robinia, Masaar’s third residential phase, as part of a Dh538 million contract.
Construction of the Kaya units will begin immediately and is scheduled to take 18 months while Robinia is scheduled to be completed in 17 months.
“Thanks to the recent decision to allow freehold ownership for all nationalities in Sharjah, we are seeing buyer interest at Masaar accelerate significantly,” said Ahmed Alkhoshaibi, group chief executive of Arada.
“The master development, as a whole, is now more than a third sold out and we are bringing forward new phase launches in order to keep up with demand.”
The launch of the new project comes at a time when the UAE’s property market is continuing to expand following a coronavirus-induced slowdown.
The expansion is being driven by new government initiatives and increased market liquidity amid higher oil prices.
The prices of both villas and apartments have increased in Dubai and Abu Dhabi this year amid a broader economic recovery and growing investor interest in the UAE's property market.
Sharjah also took a decision to allow all nationalities to own a property in the emirate, with no time restriction, to boost the emirate's property sector.
Arada, a joint venture between KBW Investments — a company controlled by Saudi Arabia’s Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed — and the Basma Group of Sharjah, is currently building the Dh24 billion Aljada master development in Sharjah, apart from other projects.
Last month, the company said it was launching a Dh2 billion project in Dubai as it capitalises on high demand and looks to expand to new markets such as Saudi Arabia and Australia.
The Jouri Hills project, with 294 high-end villas and townhouses, will come up in Dubai's Jumeirah Golf Estates, Arada vice chairman Prince Khaled told The National in an interview on the sidelines of Cityscape Dubai last month.
Earlier this year, Arada also bought a plot of land in The Palm Jumeirah in Dubai for Dh240 million to expand its property portfolio.
Arada “decided to go into Dubai as Dubai is one of the hotspots in the Middle East … prices have been growing and stability is still there. We believe that this project and The Palm Jumeirah are really the creme de la creme of Dubai”, Prince Khaled said at the time.
The company is also in talks with different entities in Saudi Arabia, including the Ministry of Housing and national developer Roshn, a Public Investment Fund company, on plans to start a project in the kingdom.
Sales of units in Masaar’s fourth phase, Azalea, began earlier in November with an expected delivery at the end of 2024, Arada said on Monday.
Azalea consists of 566 homes ranging from two-bedroom townhouses to six-bedroom villas.
Arada is currently on track for an annual 25 per cent increase in the value of property sold in 2022, taking the total to Dh3 billion.
In October, the developer also closed a $100 million Islamic bond deal after it tapped into an existing $350 million sukuk that was issued and listed on the London Stock Exchange in June.
