Dubai: Off-plan sales for Dubai’s first sustainable city will begin in July, Faris Saeed, chairman and chief executive of Diamond Developers, told Gulf News.
Work on Dubai Sustainable City will start at the end of April with landscaping the project whose green areas account for 70 per cent of the total space, the developer said. Construction of the residential and commercial components of the $1 billion city will start in June, Saeed said.
The project is expected to be completed by September 2015, he added.
About 20 to 30 per cent of the cost will be self-funded and the remaining amount will be secured through bank loans, long-term investors and off-sale plans, the developer said.
Investors have been secured for long-term projects within the city including a school and university for environmental sciences, he said.
Market price
Property prices at the green project “will not be more than market price,” said Saeed, addressing concerns that green properties may be more expensive than regular ones.
The project has 500 residents units, a mix of townhouses and villas.
By owning a residential property at the city, investors will also own a share in the shopping mall there and receive revenues that will cover their service fees, community fees and “a good part of their Dewa bill,” said Saeed.
There will also be a car-free zone and solar-powered golf carts for each house, he added. The five million square feet Dubai Sustainable City, a mixed use project, will adopt initiatives to reduce carbon emissions by more than 75 per cent and will be a zero-waste city. It will be surrounded by a green belt of 100,000 trees and include organic farms.
