Ajman approved 172 tower developments - The National Newspaper
Ajman has approved the construction of about 172 towers, less than a quarter of the total number originally planned in the emirate.
The Ajman Real Estate Regulatory Agency (ARRA) has published a list of the 172 approved towers on its website, compared with the 900 buildings that were planned.
“Some of the registration applications have been rejected but many other projects are still under process and may join the list, or not,” said Omar al Barguthi, the director general of ARRA.
“Some are registered but still have no escrow account because of banking requirements.”
Property developers across the Emirates have been forced to cancel or delay scores of residential developments after prices began to fall sharply last autumn.
Ajman started developing many of its projects later than other emirates, which has thrown the construction of hundreds of planned projects into doubt.
It is the first time the ARRA has published a list of approved projects since implementing new regulations for developers, which require registration and an escrow account for investor funds to be used exclusively for the construction costs.
In total, 122 projects of 24 developers are on the list, representing about 172 towers, 1,500 villas and 109 land plots.
Most of the older projects within the city of Ajman have been approved, but only a few of the buildings nominated for land alongside Emirates Road have been accepted.
They include projects known as Boulevard, Emirate Lakes Towers, some buildings within Emirate City, Escape, Ajman Uptown and Park View.
Developers who fail to meet the regulator’s new rules face having their projects scrapped.
“We will declare those projects as cancelled from ARRA’s standards and legal perspective,” Mr al Barguthi said. “And we will let the people responsible for it deal with their investors.”
He also encouraged buyers to form owners’ associations and take legal action to recover their investments.
“One of the ideas that could be laid down is for all the investors to form an association committee of owners to look after their needs,” he said. “They would have one voice to speak, as each case is different. If they want to go forward with the development and build, we can give them the escrow. Maybe the master developer will offer to transfer them from one tower to another. There are many possibilities.”
Mr al Barguthi said a planned conflict resolution committee was also close to formation. “Any person will be able to file a case there. It will be faster and cheaper than going to the court. Whatever this new authority decides will be implemented and come into effect.”
Developers who have registered and opened an escrow account are now entitled to request further payments from property buyers.
“However we also look at the construction percentage versus how much has been collected,” Mr al Barguthi said.
According to the executive, no developer will be able to cancel an investor’s contract without approval of the ARRA. Developers will also be required to start construction within a given time, once they have announced the launch of a project.
The projects that did not make it onto the approved list include Humaid City, Al Helio Downtown and the huge waterfront development known as Al Zorah.
Marmooka City, which has been scaled back to 20 towers from 206, is still “under process” of registration, as are Aqua City and Awali City, said another ARRA official.
ngillet@thenational.a
Ajman has approved the construction of about 172 towers, less than a quarter of the total number originally planned in the emirate.
The Ajman Real Estate Regulatory Agency (ARRA) has published a list of the 172 approved towers on its website, compared with the 900 buildings that were planned.
“Some of the registration applications have been rejected but many other projects are still under process and may join the list, or not,” said Omar al Barguthi, the director general of ARRA.
“Some are registered but still have no escrow account because of banking requirements.”
Property developers across the Emirates have been forced to cancel or delay scores of residential developments after prices began to fall sharply last autumn.
Ajman started developing many of its projects later than other emirates, which has thrown the construction of hundreds of planned projects into doubt.
It is the first time the ARRA has published a list of approved projects since implementing new regulations for developers, which require registration and an escrow account for investor funds to be used exclusively for the construction costs.
In total, 122 projects of 24 developers are on the list, representing about 172 towers, 1,500 villas and 109 land plots.
Most of the older projects within the city of Ajman have been approved, but only a few of the buildings nominated for land alongside Emirates Road have been accepted.
They include projects known as Boulevard, Emirate Lakes Towers, some buildings within Emirate City, Escape, Ajman Uptown and Park View.
Developers who fail to meet the regulator’s new rules face having their projects scrapped.
“We will declare those projects as cancelled from ARRA’s standards and legal perspective,” Mr al Barguthi said. “And we will let the people responsible for it deal with their investors.”
He also encouraged buyers to form owners’ associations and take legal action to recover their investments.
“One of the ideas that could be laid down is for all the investors to form an association committee of owners to look after their needs,” he said. “They would have one voice to speak, as each case is different. If they want to go forward with the development and build, we can give them the escrow. Maybe the master developer will offer to transfer them from one tower to another. There are many possibilities.”
Mr al Barguthi said a planned conflict resolution committee was also close to formation. “Any person will be able to file a case there. It will be faster and cheaper than going to the court. Whatever this new authority decides will be implemented and come into effect.”
Developers who have registered and opened an escrow account are now entitled to request further payments from property buyers.
“However we also look at the construction percentage versus how much has been collected,” Mr al Barguthi said.
According to the executive, no developer will be able to cancel an investor’s contract without approval of the ARRA. Developers will also be required to start construction within a given time, once they have announced the launch of a project.
The projects that did not make it onto the approved list include Humaid City, Al Helio Downtown and the huge waterfront development known as Al Zorah.
Marmooka City, which has been scaled back to 20 towers from 206, is still “under process” of registration, as are Aqua City and Awali City, said another ARRA official.
ngillet@thenational.a
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