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40 Gulf Property

MAG launches Dh700maffordable homesMAG launches Dh700maffordable homes

MAG 5 PropertyDevelopment, areal estate com-pany formedjointly by MAG

Property Development (thereal estate arm of UAE-based business conglomer-ate Moafaq Al GaddahGroup) and MBM Holding,has recently launched aDh700 million affordablehousing project at the DubaiWorld Central (DWC) inJebel Ali, Dubai, as revealedby Gulf Property last month.

Previously in an exclusiveinterview, Moafaq Al Gad-dah, Chairman of MAGGroup, had told Gulf Prop-erty that he plans to roll outDh10 billion worth of projectsby 2020, mostly to cater to

Dubai’s rapidly rising needfor affordable housing. At thesales launch of the MAG 5Boulevard project Gaddahsaid the response had been‘very positive’.

“We had been inviting peo-ple to attend the pre-saleslaunch and the response hasbeen good. We have re-ceived a steady stream ofcustomers and enquiries,” hesaid.

Major developers in Dubai,the likes of Dubai Properties,Nshama and Danube, havealready jumped into the af-fordable housing band-wagon, as there is much tobe gained from this surgingdemand. To address the gapin budget properties DubaiMunicipality recently an-nounced it was contemplat-ing making mandatory fordevelopers to dedicate 15 to20 per cent of their projectsfor affordable housing.

Construction of the MAG 5Boulevard – a freehold proj-ect – would start in the fourthquarter of 2015. The projectwould be delivered inphases, with the first phaseexpected to be handed overin the first quarter of 2018and the entire project by endof 2018. The MAG 5 Boule-vard project is spread over800,000 square feet andcomprises 13 buildings, all ofwhich are low-rise G+6 struc-tures. Put together, the de-velopment is offering 1,118apartments, with over 600one-bedroom and over 300two-bedroom units included.

“If you study the mid-in-come affordable housingsegment in Dubai, that iswhat people are looking for,”Tariq Bsharat, Executive Di-rector of Strategy and Oper-ations, MAG PropertyDevelopment told Gulf Prop-erty.

While the average size of astudio apartment would bearound 500 square feet, theone-bedrooms would bearound 650 square feet. Al-though there are no villas inthe project, the three-bed-room apartments, Bsharatsays, are ‘garden apart-ments’, with two entrances, aprivate garden and a maid’sroom with separate entrance.

With regards to the pricingstructure, the studios start atDh449,000, the one-bed-room apartments atDh549,000 and the two-bed-rooms at Dh799,000. Thethree-bedrooms, it was said,would start at around Dh1.4million.

Payment PlanLike most other developersin Dubai, MAG Property De-velopment too has launchedan attractive payment plan

By Indrajit SenStaff Reporter

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developing its ResidentialDistrict which has a designcapacity for 1,100 low- tomid-rise buildings.

“The 6.6 square kilometredistrict will offer a balancedmix of properties and host awell-organised, attractivecommunity environment withall supporting utilities and in-frastructure,” Rashed BuQara’a, Chief Operating Offi-cer of Dubai Aviation CityCorporation — developer ofthe DWC, told Gulf Propertyin an exclusive interview.

“All of our efforts arealigned with ‘Dubai Plan2021’ as we seek to developDWC into a preferred desti-

nation to live and work”, hehad said.

MAG 5 PD’s project how-ever can be considered asthe first project in DWC in theaffordable segment. “I thinkthis is going to be the newcentre of Dubai. I think that isbecause of the new Al Mak-toum International Airportand the Expo 2020 site. As adeveloper, we have to envi-sion what DWC will look likein 5 years and what projectwill fit that vision. And MAG 5Boulevard is that type of aproject. Our partners at DWChave been very helpful andsupportive,” Bsharat com-mented.

Situated in close proximityto schools, offices and hospi-tals and next to ‘The GreenBelt’, residents at MAG 5Boulevard will have accessto the dining, shopping,leisure and entertainment of-ferings. The developer hasalso promised that all ofMAG 5 Boulevard’s apart-ments will feature balconiesand parking spaces.

By 2020, DWC is projectedto become a self-sustainedurban ecosystem wherethousands of professionalsand their families will live andwork. Currently, it is home to

10,000 people, who com-mute daily to DWC from var-ious parts of the UAE. Withviable housing projects suchas MAG 5 Boulevard andothers on the retail, health-care and education fronts,DWC is laying the foundationof what will become a vibrantand robust community.

Asked about how success-ful the project will be andhow MAG Property Develop-ment plans to compete withother Dubai developers oper-ating in the budget housingsector, Bsharat says, “This isthe first thing that MAG hassorted out; which is if you tar-get affordable projects andend-users, then you have toshowcase something differ-ent. The days when you justsold (properties) through abrochure are over. Most ofthe people we have beentalking to for this project areindividuals looking at buyingfor the first time or familieswith kids.

“They are looking at a 1 or2 bedroom apartment. Andtheir questions are different;they are asking about the fin-ishing, the views, interior lay-out and of course thepayment. This is where it isdifferent.” g

for the project; a schemewhich Bsharat believes‘lessens the need for thebuyer to seek mortgage froma bank’.

He explains: “We have ourown payment plan spanning5-year payment and we arenot charging any interest. Forexample, for an average-priced studio you are lookingat paying Dh6,200 per monthand you get to own the apart-ment in 60 months. There isa deposit of 30 per cent thatcomes in the first 8 months,but after that you just have topay your monthly install-ments.”

The developer declined toname the contractors for thisproject saying only that theprocess of appointing a con-tractor is ‘in the tenderingphase and we have eight to10 bids. Al Jabal Consul-tancy and Engineering and econstruct are the architectsfor this project, Bsharat said.

Dubai WorldCentralThe management of DubaiWorld Central, the Dh110 bil-lion aerotropolis sprawledover 145 square kilometres,has laid special emphasis on

Dh700 millionvalue of MAG 5 Boulevard

1,118number of apartments are on

offer for freehold sale

Dh449,000price of a studio at MAG 5

Boulevard project

At A Glance

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