Gulf Construction Online

Real Estate

A bird’s eye perspective of the Sobha Hartland project in Dubai.

On target

01 March 2015

Sobha Hartland in Dubai will be a contemporary community where people can live, work, play and visit

Sobha, part of the multinational Sobha Group, says its signature integrated community Sobha Hartland development in Dubai, UAE, is progressing well according to schedule.

Aiming to offer the best of living in the emirate, the $4-billion development which is located 3 km from Burj Khalifa is set to achieve a key milestone this September with the inauguration of the group’s first international curriculum school, Hartland International School.

Sobha also plans to break ground on its signature villas and apartments, and its high-quality infrastructure in the second quarter of this year. On the infrastructure development front, tenders for roads and utilities have been floated and bids received.

The landmark development, centrally located within Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City, will include four- to six-bedroom villas, apartments ranging from studio to four-bedroom duplexes, and a host of amenities including international schools, clubhouse, gardens and parks, hotels and spa, retail facilities, offices and service apartments and a mosque.

According to Ajay Rajendran, vice chairman of Sobha, the company’s phased release of the Hartland portfolio in the UAE in September 2014 was well received. The high-end community which will feature two international schools, a state-of-the-art spa, hotels and cafes, will be delivered in phases beginning in the first quarter of 2017.

Rajendran ... milestones.

“The $4-billion development is resonating across geographies and nationalities, because of its contemporary aesthetics, elaborate open areas and close proximity to Downtown Dubai, creating a community, where people can live, work, play and visit,” says Rajendran.

He adds: “Sobha’s exemplary reputation of going above and beyond expectations is well represented throughout the development with in-house expertise in design, engineering and building, enabling complete control over the achievement of excellence in quality and timeliness in delivery. Sobha Group’s philosophy of ‘no shortcuts to quality’ will permeate through all aspects of the development.”

Sobha is one of the fastest growing and fully integrated real estate players in the world, which means it is involved in all areas of the Sobha Hartland development – from masterplanning, architecture, interior design, construction to even landscaping.

“This is quite unique and ensures complete control over timely deliver, cost and of course exceptional quality,” he says.

Sobha is currently investing in expanding its footprint regionally and globally. The company is in the process of opening five sales offices in London (UK), Singapore, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Doha (Qatar) and Kuwait City by July this year to tap the growing demand for its developments in the UAE.

Commenting on this move, Rajendran says: “Sobha has been in the region for the last 40 years in the construction vertical and has been closely involved in the UAE real estate sector over the last decade. We strongly believe that the economic fundamentals for Dubai are stronger than ever and, therefore, the initiative to open overseas sales offices strengthens our commitment to Dubai’s longer term real estate growth.”

With nearly four decades of experience in creating resplendent interiors of palaces and landmarks in the Middle East, PNC Menon founded Sobha in India in 1994 with a clear vision to transform the way people perceive quality in the real estate sector in India and the Middle East.

Sobha’s credentials include delivering 75 million sq ft of development across 450 projects, with 38 million sq ft under progress at an annual turnover of Dh2.2 billion ($599 million). It employs over 28,000 people and has a land holding of around 240 million sq ft. These figures, however, do not include the two significant developments in Dubai – Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City, District One; and Sobha Hartland.