Construction of infrastructure at a new waterfront project planned for Abu Dhabi, which will house up to 100,000 people, is set to start next month, a senior company executive for the developer said today. The Dh25 billion (US$6.8bn) Al Ghantoot project, which will be completed over a twenty-year period, is the brainchild of International Capital Trading, a property investor based in Abu Dhabi. Initial infrastructure work to the value of Dh300 million would begin towards the end of the year, said Haytham Haidar, the chief operating officer of ICT.
"Phase one will bring 37,000 new housing units by 2013," said Mr Haidar. "It's a city within the city and the very first residential units will be delivered in 36 months." The project is located on the edge of Abu Dhabi, along the border with Dubai close to Khalifa port, and 20 minutes from the new Dubai airport. It will house 100,000 people over 6.4 square kilometres, with 200,000 square metres of office space and 200,000 sqm of retail, healthcare and education facilities, as well as an 18-hole golf course. An eight-kilometre-long canal will thread its way through Al Ghantoot. The waterfront is part of the Abu Dhabi Plan 2030, a long-term project to rejuvenate and upgrade the emirate's infrastructure and is expected to be completed by 2030. It is not within a free zone, which means only nationals will be allowed to buy property in Al Ghantoot.
ngillet@thenational.ae
