An artist’s impressions of the Nujoom development.
Star Attraction
01 November 2005
An integrated tourist city that will accommodate 40,000 residents in several residential districts is to be built in Sharjah at a cost of Dh18 billion ($4.9 billion).
The commercial, residential, and tourism development known as Nujoom Islands (Stars Islands) will be the largest of its kind to be built in the emirate and will cover 60 million sq ft of prime coastal land near the village of Hamriya.
It will comprise 10 islands, linked by bridges and surrounded by a 5-m-deep lagoon, which is fed by the Arabian Gulf waters. The project – to be undertaken in several phases – will be completed in three years. Wade Adams Contracting Company is already developing the site and preparing the infrastructure and is scheduled to complete the work this month. The project forms part of the first phase of the project.
Only 40 per cent of the land area will contain structures while 60 per cent will be landscaped with beaches, gardens, parks, and roads, according to Saudi real estate giant Al Hanoo Holding Company, the developer.
While the original coastal area of Hamriya covers 3 km of beachfront, Nujoom Islands with its extensive waterway systems, will produce 33 km of prime beachfront land.
The Government of Sharjah has already approved the master plan of the Nujoom Islands project and various infrastructure design studies and architectural plans are already complete. Halcrow International Engineering Consultant Company is handling the engineering design
The luxury development project will be constructed at a strategic location on the shores of the Arabian Gulf in three stages over a period of five years. The residential units will be offered for sale soon after completion of the infrastructure and service facilities.
The Nujoom Islands project will consist of 13 sectors of land of which the first three will represent the outer mainland of the project in addition to 10 islands separated by well-designed water channels.
The three main land sectors will connect to Sharjah and overlook the channels. Engineering studies have been implemented by global consultants to develop an ecologically-sound waterway system that draws in seawater through a state-of-the-art filtration and circulation system.
The islands will include 40 high rises in the centre of the islands for residential and offices purposes, 145 apartment buildings, four hotels, two resorts, 1,400 waterfront and park-side villas, five marine clubs, a large commercial complex – including a hypermarket, and nine smaller commercial centres – two entertainment complexes and six light industries facilities.
The project will also include several mosques, schools, banks and stores, as well as coffee shops and restaurants.
Nujoom Islands will feature wide streets and internal bridges connecting the islands and large interchanges connecting the project with main highways, gardens and large green areas, with car parking areas distributed throughout the project in a well-planned manner.
“Nujoom Islands is a residential and commercial real estate project that Al Hanoo is launching for investors of all nationalities. It comes as a continuation of three decades of success by Al Hanoo in the real estate development business. Taking into consideration that the development climate in Sharjah is highly attractive, Al Hanoo is committed to developing real estate projects in the United Arab Emirates,” says Sheikh Al Shakra, chairman of Al Hanoo Holding Company, owner and developer of the Nujoom Islands project.
Al Hanoo Holding established Nujoom Islands Company as an independent company to develop and manage the Nujoom Islands project with a series of strategic partners from the Gulf states.
Nujoom Islands is the second project of Al Hanoo Holding Company in the UAE and follows its first and highly successful project in Sharjah, which was the Emirates Industrial City built at a cost of more than Dh3 billion.
Founded in 1975 in Saudi Arabia, Al Hanoo Holding Company currently has a paid-up capital of SR200 million, and diverse interests in real estate investment and development, construction and trade, with a focus on large-scale infrastructure and property development projects in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other GCC countries.
