Reem dream

Sun Tower on Reem Island.

Significant progress is being made at one of the UAE’s largest residential projects

Driving over Reem Island Bridge into the centre of Abu Dhabi, one immediately notices there are some very shabby buildings in the capital.

These are probably not that old, and maybe only need a lick of paint before they are presentable again. However, they have stiff competition from Reem Island, one of the most ambitious residential projects in the UAE, where pioneering residents have started to move into some of the first completed buildings of this $30bn, 846ha development.

Abu Dhabi has a shortage of affordable accommodation. The developers of Reem Island are clearly hoping that it will not only attract the overspill, but that residents will be tempted to relocate from older, less serviced buildings with fewer amenities to the gleaming, beckoning towers of Reem Island.

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Sorouh has been at pains to explain to investors that it completed all necessary infrastructure prior to the handing over of its Sun and Sky Towers, from telecoms to street lighting, meaning the buildings are in a ‘plug-and-play’ state awaiting residents. Currently about 600 families have moved in, with the developer stating it will be more properly occupied within the next two quarters.

During a recent press tour to the 74-storey Sky Tower, some residents lounging on the pool deck were no doubt surprised to see a bunch of journalists traipsing around.

One could not help but notice that, despite the developer waxing lyrical about the extensive common facilities - including a ‘yoga lawn’, a token square of grass in an otherwise low-maintenance, totally paved area, which must be unbearable at the height of summer - Reem Island is still very much a construction site.

Barely 1% of the mega project’s expected 200,000 residents have moved in to date. Only 30% of the 3,000 units in Sorouh’s The Gate have been sold, for example, with completion looming next year. This clearly reflects the current moribund state of the real estate market, with demand having shifted from off plan to finished product.

The situation has been complicated further by delays in obtaining final permit approvals from the Abu Dhabi government.

Meanwhile contractors and developers are bravely forging ahead with an array of projects at Reem Island, including Damac Properties’ high-end Oceanscape and Marina Bay, which boast sea views for all apartments as an important element of the bespoke lifestyle on offer.

A one-way link bringing traffic to Reem Island, and a connecting bridge to Sowwah Island, form part of the overall infrastructure being developed by Bunya, which recently awarded a major landscaping contract for 430 shaded areas along Reem Island’s 16km road network. This will involve the planting of 1.5m trees and shrubs.

Clearly the mega project’s developers and master planners are forging ahead with the creation of what will in effect be a satellite city for Abu Dhabi. Even though the current market seems to indicate it could up to a decade for Reem Island to take off, with the infrastructure that is being put in place, there is no reason this will not happen.