Reem Investments plans luxury-villa complex in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi-based Reem Investments is planning a 42 luxury-villa waterfront community at the $8bn Najmat real estate project, the developer said in a statement on Sunday.

Nalaya Villas will be located on the southern shore of Najmat, a 16m square feet development on Abu Dhabi’s Reem Island. 

The 42 villas, comprising three, four and five bedrooms, will be available for lease directly from Reem Investments, the company said in its statement. 

The villas are expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2012, it added.

“We’re committed to building unique residential offerings,” said Bambang Sugeng Bin Kajairi, Chief Executive Officer of Reem Investments.  “These 42 villas will have a distinctive architectural quality and offer Abu Dhabi residents a safe and close-knit community lifestyle, a sanctuary from fast paced city life.

“Progress on Najmat continues to be made at a steady pace; we have completed Phase 1 infrastructure works and Phase 2 infrastructure works have commenced which include the creation of the beaches.”

The release of several delayed properties onto the Abu Dhabi residential market during the second quarter is set to “result in a spell of increased rental and sales activity”, real estate consultancy Cluttons said last week.

Cluttons said that rental rates had fallen across the board during the last quarter, with lower-end units softening by 10 percent, and freehold villas dropping by between 2 to 5 percent, quarter-on-quarter.

Cluttons said that the long-awaited delivery of projects like Sun and Sky Towers, and Marina Square’s RAK Tower – both on Reem Island – would end two years of stalemate in the UAE capital.

Villa rents in Abu Dhabi have fallen 8 percent in the first three months of 2011, declining further from the 5 percent decrease of Q4 2010, Asteco said in a report on Sunday.

The falls in rents are especially pronounced within lower quality villas, the UAE property management company said in its Q1 2011 report.

According to Asteco, the high volume of new housing supply already delivered or due to be delivered have resulted in Abu Dhabi’s average leasing rates for Q1 falling 8% across both, apartments and villas.