Sharjah Update Sharjah business & Investment News from Invest in Sharjah (Sharjah FDI Office)
Related Articles
A multi-billion dollar development called ‘Sharjah Waterfront City’ on Sharjah’s northeast coast is expected to be announced at the region’s premier real estate event, Cityscape Global, next month. According to a report by Sharjah-based Al Khaleej newspaper, the emirate’s largest master-planned mixed-use development project to-date will cover an area of 60 million square feet along 36 kilometers of waterfront.
The mega-project, which replaces the previously planned Blue Bay development, will be built on the ten Al Nujoom Islands with retail centres, tourism attractions, a leisure cruise terminal, a water park, recreation areas, 200 mixed-use towers, 95 residential buildings and 1,100 waterfront villas, which will include freehold properties. The island developments will be connected by multiple transport networks including canals, roads and tramlines. The real estate development will eventually accommodate 226,000 people.
According to the developer Sharjah Oasis Real Estate, the first phase of the project, budgeted at AED 9.5 billion (US$ 2.6 billion), will include a central business district, 24 mixed-use towers, a large shopping centre, a luxury hotel and other tourism facilities. The developer expects phase one to be completed in the second quarter of 2018.
The vision for Sharjah Waterfront City is to create a mixed-use sea-front development that supports high quality modern lifestyles, state-of-the-art residential and commercial projects and unique tourism attractions and facilities. By virtue of its size and scope, the new development will provide a significant boost to Sharjah’s economy, creating thousands of new jobs and new business opportunities. In addition, Sharjah Waterfront’s location adjacent to Hamriyah Free Zone and port is expected to be mutually beneficial.
Sharjah Waterfront City is expected to become a major contributor to the emirate’s appeal as a tourist destination and support Sharjah Tourism Vision 2021, the strategic plan developed by Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) that aims to attract 10 million tourists by year 2021. One of the developments star attractions will be Crystal Lagoon, a 1.6 million square foot waterpark.
Sharjah Waterfront City is being developed to both leverage urban systems of efficiency, while creating sustainable, environmentally-friendly urban spaces consistent with Sharjah’s healthy city plans. Sharjah was recently accredited as the the Middle East’s first Healthy City by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a result of the city meeting a wide range of WHO criteria. It is hoped that the new development will prove to be a gold standard for urban development in Sharjah.
Strategic partners already appointed for Sharjah Waterfront City include Darwish Engineering Emirates Contracting, global design firm Jack Ross & Associates, WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, Adnan Saffarini Engineering Consultants and other consultants. There are also memorandums of understanding signed with a number of property operators, hotels, business centers, entertainment companies, retail groups and hypermarkets.
Cityscape Global takes place from 8-10 September at Dubai International Exhibition Centre.
Updated 23 August 2015
Source: Al Khaleej newspaper
