Al Reem Island attracts Dhs24.55bn within 3 months

The objective of this competition is not so much development of the area as putting their signature projects in place in order to prove their leading position in the real estate market.

Al Tassan, whose company has invested Dhs1.2bn in developing three smart home technology-equipped towers on Al Reem Island stated that aspects of the emirate's prudent and visionary legislative system, such as the freehold law, which allows people of all nationalities to own property, have contributed to the unprecedented demand from foreign investors for commercial and residential units. This, in turn, has enhanced the influx of capital into the regional real estate market, which has grown substantially enough to enter into competition with the real estate markets in the US, the UK, Singapore and other markets.

Al Tassan added that Al Reem Island is considered a magnetic draw for real estate investment in the region. Statistics reveal that the volume of real estate investment in the Abu Dhabi market is expected to reach Dhs500-600bn over the next two decades, while the volume of investment activity recorded for projects under development on the island alone until mid-September 2007 was estimated at Dhs24.55bn.

These investments exclude the construction of towers and bridges, real estate services, management services, power plant contracts, and various other infrastructural services. These substantial figures indicate the significance of the island on the architectural map of Abu Dhabi.

Various real estate reports have categorised Al Reem Island as a first class tourism project featuring the latest in smart home technologies, as well as other technologies that will be used for the first time in the world.

The project contains luxury hotels, hospitals, schools, mosques, commercial and entertainment complexes, and bridges linking the project to the city of Abu Dhabi.

Other reports have concluded that the growth of the Abu Dhabi real estate market can be attributed to petro-dollar recycling resulting from the recent windfall of oil revenues. Other diversified revenues of non-oil sectors, which already account for a significant share of the Abu Dhabi GDP, also contribute to the flow of surplus liquidity in the booming real estate market.