Reem Island could eventually be home to up to 10,000 hotel rooms, 210,000 residents and thousands of office workers.
A new master plan for the 8.5 million square metre island was unveiled by Abu Dhabi’s Urban Planning Council (UPC) yesterday that sets out development limits for the island.
It states that an expected 1.4 million square metres of office space, 850,000 square metres of retail and lots of community facilities, including three new hospitals, will be built.
The plan has been created by the island's three master developers – Tamouh, Reem Investments and Aldar Properties — which is, in turn, approved by the UPC.
Already, 15 per cent of the buildings covering 20 million square metres at Reem Island are either built or under way, and there are 20,000 residents.
Tamouh, which is the biggest developer on the island, controlling 57 per cent of the land, has completed 3,500 residential units at its 14-tower Marina Square project.
“As of today, more than 95 per cent of them are occupied,” said managing director Joe Ong, adding that the community should eventually house 10,000 people. Elsewhere on Reem Island, Tamouh expects to deliver 4,500 new homes over the next four years at the City of Lights project, where seven of a total of 17 towers are being built. The first, the 56-storey LX Tower office building, has recently been handed over.
“Probably by the end of the year, two more blocks will be delivered. Our sub developer, Hydra Properties, will be delivering three more blocks. So we are talking about five more blocks within a year,” he said, adding that these would comprise 2,000 homes.
Aldar Properties, which controls about 20 per cent of the land, has already built The Gate Towers and the Sun and Sky Towers at Shams Abu Dhabi on the island. When its new 408-unit Meera Shams Abu Dhabi and schemes by sub-developers are added, it has about 3,500 units either completed or under construction.
Reem Investments, which also owns about one fifth of the land, only started on its first project – to build 42 villas – last year.
However, the company’s vice president of strategic development, Saeed Al Yabhouni, said that its strategy had changed over the past 12 months.
Initially, it planned to just develop infrastructure and sell the plots to third parties, but it started developing its own land last year.
“There are some other projects coming into the pipeline,” said Mr Al Yabhouni.
“We are going to build another project, which is mainly residential and retail. It will be hopefully by the end of next year or the first quarter of next year. We are now on detailed design. It will be apartments – a tower.”
An initial master plan was created for the island ten years ago, when a total investment of over $30bn was envisaged.
The UPC’s executive director for urban development and Estidama, Mohamed Al Khadar, said the new plan involves much more collaboration between the parties.
“We are very excited about what this means for the future of Abu Dhabi,” he said.
The three developers now have to submit their own detailed plans to the UPC for approval. Mr Ong said that Tamouh’s, which is being worked up by Arup, could be ready by August.
mfahy@thenational.ae
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