DUBAI: Developer Nakheel has announced it has no immediate plans to charge Discovery Gardens (DG) residents for the use of pools, but stressed that outsiders are not welcome to use them, XPRESS has learnt.
"We don't have any plans at this time to enforce fees for access to the swimming pools," a Nakheel spokesperson told XPRESS. "The pools will be exclusively opened to owners and residents of DG."
The state-owned developer has reportedly been talking to homeowners over access fees to pools in exchange for a cut in service fees. XPRESS came across three pools filled with water but the gates were locked.
There are more than half a dozen pools, whose opening faced a three-year-delay. Residents are upset at the prospect of being asked to pay for pool use.
Fahim Siddiqi, who owns a unit in DG's Mediterranean cluster, said: "Nothing has been communicated to us. We don't know when these pools will open."
"We bought the property with access to complete facilities promised. But the maintenance fee of Dh20 to Dh21 they charge per square foot is extremely high compared to other similar Dubai developments," said Siddiqi, a real estate executive. He added that the service charge for a studio apartment at DG is around Dh9,000 a year.
According to a 2009 survey by Harbor Real Estate, buildings across Dubai charge an average of Dh16/square foot — with Dh22/square foot for high-end Downtown Burj Dubai units and Dh11/square foot for lower-end The Greens units.
Rohit Purna, an IT professional who rents a one-bedroom unit at DG, said: "My two kids would love to swim here on weekends. They are jealous of their friends living in The Gardens as they have free access to their community pool. We are already paying a premium on rents here so an additional fee does not make sense."
Purna said he understands that overcrowding in pools may be an issue when outsiders get unfettered access to them. "They can use access cards to ensure only legitimate residents have access to the pools," he said.
However, not everyone is unhappy with the access fee idea.
Albert Pacible, a Filipino database administrator, said most owners of DG units are absentee landlords.
"I'm not sure how many of them are in default in paying maintenance fees. There are costs involved in running these facilities. An access fee based on pay-per-use would be fair but it depends on the amount charged."
