Bloom Properties to build 302 homes next to NYU’s Saadiyat campus

The new scheme, branded Soho Square, would comprise 10 stories of homes ranging from studio to three-bedroom apartments, plus townhouses and penthouses as well as shops and offices.

Bloom has unveiled Soho Square. Courtesy APCO Worldwide

Bloom Properties has unveiled plans to build 302 homes next to New York University’s Saadiyat campus.

The Abu Dhabi-based developer, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi conglomerate National Holding, said that the project, which it had branded Soho Square, would comprise 10 storeys of homes ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments, town houses and penthouses as well as shops and offices.

The project will be Bloom’s second on Saadiyat Island. Bloom in April started marketing Park View, a mixed-use development on the island that comprises two buildings – a residential tower and a hotel that will be managed by Rotana.

Bloom said it had sold all of the apartments in Park View within “days” of the project’s launch.

“Following the massively successful launch of Park View at Cityscape Abu Dhabi 2015, Bloom Properties has received strong interest from investors keen to own a piece of this lucrative investment because of its attractive rental yields and location advantages – in the vicinity of New York University Abu Dhabi campus and in proximity to the cultural centre of Abu Dhabi with its museums,” said Sameh Muhtadi, the chief executive of Bloom Holding.

The Saadiyat Island developer TDIC started selling plots of land close to NYU’s recently opened Rafael Viñoly-designed campus in 2012.

Unlike the area of the island around Saadiyat Beach, which was developed by TDIC, all of the land around NYUAD has been earmarked to be sold off to private developers.

Agents said that house prices for the new apartments would be likely to reflect the fact that construction projects are to remain in the area for the coming ten years.

Saadiyat has become one of the most expensive places to live in Abu Dhabi.

According to Asteco figures, rents in the Saadiyat Beach area rose the steepest out of anywhere in the city in the year to the end of June 2015, with annual increases of 18 per cent.

The broker found that rents in the area increased from Dh120,000 a year to Dh130,000 for a one-bedroom apartment, while those for two-bedroom apartments increased from Dh175,000 to Dh185,000. Annual rents for three-bedroom apartments rose from Dh200,000 to Dh250,000.

“Rents in Abu Dhabi as a whole have been increasing quickly and are likely to continue to do so until at least 2017,” said Ben Crompton, the managing partner at Crompton Partners estate agents.

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