Abu Dhabi: A slew of development projects are set to offer residents in Abu Dhabi suburbs easy access to amenities, retail options and maintenance services, Abu Dhabi City Municipality officials announced on Monday,

The projects will set up community markets and service stations in suburbs like Al Rahba, Al Wathba, Shawamekh and Mohammad Bin Zayed City.

To that end, the municipality on Monday signed two agreements with private sector real estate company, Tristar Real Estate, for the development of a Dh36 million community market in Mohammad Bin Zayed City and a Dh15.5 million service station in Shawamekh.

“The aim is to provide residents in the suburbs access to services close to home, thus also enhancing the standard of living in these localities,” said Saif Al Qubaisi, general manager at the municipality.

The community market in Mohammad Bin Zayed City is expected to be completed over the next two years, and will span 23,000 square metres. It will include a day care centre, a health club, a host of retail options and facilities for government services.

Similar facilities are also currently under construction in Shamkha, Al Wathba and Shawamekh.

On the other hand, service stations will include basic maintenance services that are not easily available in the suburbs, including air conditioning repair, auto repair, home maintenance, carpentry and plumbing.

“Within Abu Dhabi city, residents live in apartments that are managed by property management companies and landlords, and who therefore provide the requisite services to tenants. In the suburbs, residents inhabit villas, many that they themselves own. For them, it is essential to have access to maintenance services within their neighbourhoods, and this is where the new service stations come in,” said Naji Al Harithi, chief executive officer at Tristar.

In the absence of such services, residents are forced to undertake a drive of at least 30 minutes to Musaffah area to find service providers.

The Shawamekh service station is expected to extend over 5,000 square metres, and should be completed in three years’ time.

“In June (2018), we signed agreements with the Municipality to develop three other Dh15 million service stations in Al Rahba, Al Wathba and Shahama,” Al Harithi added.