Strategically located on 28 hectares of land on Abu Dhabi’s Eastern Mangrove Corniche Road, the Dh1 billion Bloom Gardens project as a whole will have over 300 villas and penthouses meant for emirati citizens, apart from the Brighton College prep school, spa, gym and some retail outlets.

The entire project will be ready for delivery in 2012, Dr.Hani Shammah, CEO of bloom Properties told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of 
the Cityscape.

He said bloom had already signed the prime contractor agreement with Emirates Link Contracting LLC for the Bloom Gardens project, and the construction work would start soon.

Bloom Properties has also worked out easy finance agreements with three banks — Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi to support the potential customers of the Bloom Gardens Dr. Hani Shammah said. Some of the banks offer up to 80 to 90 per cent of the cost of the units as loan. ADIB, for instance, will lend up to 80 per cent of the unit cost and the buyers will need to remit only ten per cent of the property cost initially. They (the buyers) can remit the remaining ten per cent after the completion of the project.

“We are also in discussions with three other banks for arranging for arranging the finance for the potential customers of Bloom Garden project so that they can have a choice on the bank they want to deal with,” he said.

“This is certainly a high-end project. But we are working on a project targeted to the middle income group in the new Capital District planned in Abu Dhabi,” he said.

A significant number of the units in Bloom Gardens have already been sold out and “we are getting tremendous response from the end-users and investors now despite the adverse market conditions.”

Cityscape Visitors

Dr.Hani Shammah said even though the number of visitors at Cityscape was down with the disappearance of speculators and amateur investors, there was a good turnout of end-users and genuine long-term investors this year as well.

“You can make out from the quality of enquiries that the visitors make at the stalls that they are seriously interested in buying. The end-users are looking deeply at the fit and finish of each showcased property while the long-term investors are verifying the yield,” he said.

“The banks in the UAE, especially in Abu Dhabi have significantly eased the credit availability to the real estate sector now, compared to the situation in the last quarter of the previous year. “Of course they are critically evaluating the credit worthiness of each loan applicant and project, and they should be doing that.”

“My own assessment is that the market will revive next year and we will have a more vibrant Cityscape in 2010. However it will not go back to the levels of the recent real estate boom period, and it will be more matured and realistic market,”Dr.Hani Shammah said.

ramavarman@khaleejtimes.ae