Offplan sales and construction are planned to begin later this year as part of Abu Dhabi’s “Sustainability City” campaign. The Yas Island developer anticipates finishing the project within a strict 30-month timeline.
The project aims to establish a community in Sharjah that adheres to the most modern sustainable living standards—a concept that has already been successfully implemented in Dubai. According to Diamond Developers’ CEO Salah Habib, “We have high expectations that investors and end-users will snap up these properties in Abu Dhabi”.
“Sharjah Sustainable City is currently at 95 percent completion in Phase 1, and 25 percent complete overall. There will be a total of 1,252 units to house environmentally conscious families and individuals.”
Developers are moving away from plain-vanilla residential developments, whether it be Tilal Al Ghaf (from Majid Al Futtaim Properties in Dubai), Damac Lagoons, or Arada’s Masaar in Sharjah. The emphasis is on doing things differently, whether including a beach, a water element, or creating a “forest.”
On this score, Sustainable City’s various iterations do work. “Because sustainability is a continuous journey, new projects must capture tried-and-tested tech advances in food, energy, water, products, mobility, and waste,” said Habid. “For example, our solar PV modules in Sharjah are 30 percent more efficient than in Dubai, and PV modules in Abu Dhabi will be 20 percent more efficient than in Sharjah.
“In other words, our projects accommodate incremental innovation (higher efficiency panels) as well as disruptive innovation (such as peer-to-peer energy trading and EV car sharing).”
In Dubailand, The Sustainable City Dubai served as the catalyst. The City, which has been in operation for seven years, has five residential clusters, a farm, a horse stable, a school, and a central plaza with buildings housing offices and flats.
Recently, Diamond Developers launched The Sustainable Homes, 51 short-stay, studio apartments there “The project allows visitors, residents, and tourists to experience sustainable living and enjoy Dubai with a significantly reduced carbon footprint,” said Habib. “We completed the masterplan with the region’s first net zero carbon building, SEE Institute, in October.
“Our project is a true testament to a live-work-thrive culture.”
Buy in
The idea is being welcomed by both investors and end users. According to data from fam Properties, The Sustainable City Dubai experienced comparatively high demand during the first half of this year despite having little new inventory.
The EV model
Here’s another angle to consider when determining whether consumers are interested in sustainable living.
“At the initial launch of the project, we had just one electric vehicle within the community, which was actually owned by the founder (of Diamond Developers), and a humble five-vehicle charging station,” the CEO said. “Today, the community proudly hosts over 60 EVs, with 12 charging stations to support, and we plan on increasing the number of charging stations to 20.
“We believe that current incentives and ones that we introduced during the early years of the project, truly helped with the increase of EV acceptance within our community.” The City formerly provided an up to $10,000 EV incentive programme and is currently working to introduce an EV sharing scheme.