Abu Dhabi-based developer Lead Development and The National Investor (TNI) are joining forces to build the first private villa and town house community at Masdar City.
In a statement on Tuesday, Lead and TNI said that they had jointly bought a 830,000-square-metre plot in the southern district of Masdar City’s Free Zone, which is planned to develop as middle-income housing.
Lead, which was founded in 2010 by former Sorouh chief executive Mounir Haidar, is still finalising its plans for the Masdar residential community and so could not say how many villas it would build on the site. However, it said that the project would cover a floor area of 250,000 sq metres and would eventually accommodate around 5,000 residents.
The developer, which is currently working as project management consultant on the Hidd Al Saadiyat villa development on Saadiyat Island, and has worked on Capital Plaza on the Abu Dhabi Corniche and 98 villas on the Eastern Ring Road, said that it expected to complete the development in 2022.
Last year Abu Dhabi’s Urban Planning Council approved detailed master plans for a 637,000-sq-metre phase 2 of Masdar City which will include a research and development cluster, 2,000 apartments and a Gems school as well as another 341,000 sq metres phase which will include 1,000 homes.
Most of the new developments will be built by third-party developers with Mubadala-owned Masdar acting as a master developer.
Lead and TNI said that its project would meet a minimum 3 pearl rating – two notches from the optimum super-green 5 pearl rating laid out by Abu Dhabi UPC’s Estidama sustainability framework. Originally Masdar had said that it hoped most of the developments in the master plan would reach 4 pearl rating.
“It is a great opportunity to be working closely with Masdar to deliver this unique sustainable development,” said Abdullah Mazrui, the chairman of TNI.
“Lead and TNI will work with the Masdar team to deliver a project in line with Abu Dhabi’s regulations for sustainable, water and energy efficient real estate developments.”
lbarnard@thenational.ae
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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
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21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
MATCH INFO
Day 2 at the Gabba
Australia 312-1
Warner 151 not out, Burns 97, Labuschagne 55 not out
Pakistan 240
Shafiq 76, Starc 4-52
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
PSG's line up
GK: Alphonse Areola (youth academy)
Defence - RB: Dani Alves (free transfer); CB: Marquinhos (€31.4 million); CB: Thiago Silva (€42m); LB: Layvin Kurzawa (€23m)
Midfield - Angel di Maria (€47m); Adrien Rabiot (youth academy); Marco Verratti (€12m)
Forwards - Neymar (€222m); Edinson Cavani (€63m); Kylian Mbappe (initial: loan; to buy: €180m)
Total cost: €440.4m (€620.4m if Mbappe makes permanent move)
Results
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,400m. Winner: Rio Angie, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer).
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7.40pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m. Winner: Mulfit, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
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8.50pm: Handicap Dh210,000 (D) 2,000m. Winner: Tried And True, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
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- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
