For Umm Al Quwain project, Deyaar plans mix of new homes, old forts

Dubai: Deyaar, the Dubai-headquartered developer, won’t be building everything from scratch at its first project in Umm Al Quwain.

In fact, Deyaar’s masterplan for the ‘Aya’ will retain quite a bit of the location’s existing builds, whether that be forts built in the distant past, a museum and marina. “There are 3-4 forts that forms part of an old town – there will be a lot of new things that will get done, but with some of the existing parts remaining,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Qatami, CEO at Deyaar Development.

There is a generous amount of land where the Aya will shape up, about 150,000 square feet in Phase 1 itself. Deyaar sees this being extended to multiple phases to create ‘more of a long-term development’.

In many ways, Umm Al Quwain is having its initial brush with freehold and offplan possibilities. Deyaar is the second major developer to enter the northern emirate recently, with another Dubai entity, Sobha, launching the ‘Siniya Islands’ there.

The same elements that have spurred a freehold boom in Ras Al Khaimah are available in plenty at Umm Al Quwain, whether it be the beaches, the relative tranquility of its surrounds, and property values that are still in the discovery phase.

“UAQ freehold properties come almost 25%-30% lower than what homes being built on Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah are going for,” said Qatami. “You have a lot of investors, in UAE and outside, who want to go for beachfront or beach getaways. Umm Al Quwain is situated between Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah, and with 15-20 minute connectivity from key points, that too will be an advantage for investors.”

What’s the Aya about?

Sales of the Aya Beachfront Residences start today (February 26) with prices of one-bedroom units from Dh1.1 million. As Al Qatami says, investors will take a close look at prices comparisons between buying a home in RAK and UAQ, and which would offer higher growth possibilities longer term. “There is a lot of interest in buying a holiday home or even for generating high rental yields,” the Deyaar CEO said. “We are talking about 8%, even higher.

“Umm Al Quwain in due course will come up with more real estate regulations, including possibly on holiday home rentals. So, from an investor’s point of view, those are all lucrative opportunities to tap into.”