Dubai seeks contractors for sprawling affordable housing scheme

08 February 2016

Low income development consists of 81 low rise buildings

Local developer Wasl has invited contractors to express interest in working on an estimated AED2.5bn ($681m) low income housing development in Dubai.

The proposed low income residential development is located in Al-Qusais Industrial Area and involves the construction of 81 four storey buildings along with other community facilities. There will be two types of residential building made up of mostly one and two bed units with some studio and three-bed apartments that will be built using precast modules. The total built-up area will be about 770,000 square metres.

Before construction can start, the selected contractor will be tasked with advancing the concept design to a detailed design that can be submitted to the authorities for the necessary approvals.

Wasl is developing other projects in Dubai. In February, the local Al-Basti & Muktha was awarded an estimated AED700m ($190m) deal for the construction of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Dubai.

Located on Jumeirah Beach Road looking out to the Gulf, the hotel will have 200 rooms and suites, and 12 villas.

The project is owned by Dubai Real Estate Corporation (DREC) and the local Wasl Hospitality is the development manager.

Last year, Wasl CEO Hesham Abdulla al-Qasim said the firm plans to open 15 hotels in Dubai by 2019.

Affordability becomes Dubai’s real estate priority

 Affordable housing quotas in Dubai

Affordable housing quotas in Dubai

Throughout 2015, Dubai’s real estate market continued to slow down, with transaction values dropping across all sectors.

The most common explanation for the slowdown is dampened investor sentiment caused by falling oil prices, but other factors such as concerns of an oversupply have also put downward pressure on pricing. Some analysts say this cooling is a natural stabilisation of a market that had been growing too fast.

One segment that is not held back by oversupply is affordable housing. Dubai will fail to serve the low-to-mid-range residential market as long as affordability definitions remain ambiguous, says Faisal Durrani, international research and business development manager at the UK’s Cluttons Real Estate. Read More

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