Sun-powered Falcon Island development launched in Ras Al Khaimah
Unlike the man-made islands in Dubai, Falcon Island is natural, and each property will have direct access to the Arabian Gulf.
During the project's launch on Friday, 40 villas were offered of which 25 units were booked, according to Mr Ebrahimy. Prices of the villas start at Dh5.2 million.
The project features 11 mansions built over 1,600 square metres. At the launch three mansions were booked. Prices start from Dh23m.
Built to be environmentally friendly, all of the electricity for homes, street lighting, water desalination and cooling will be generated on-site by solar power.
"We are studying providing the cooling systems of the buildings with solar energy,” said Mr Ebrahimy. "This has not been done anywhere else yet. It will be revolutionary.” He added that there was one project in Saudi Arabia that cools 15 homes with solar energy, but nothing on the scale of 150 homes.
A decade ago, Al Hamra Village, a residential and leisure development that includes a mall, restaurants golf courses and hotels, was built in RAK.
Now, as property prices have surged in Dubai, many people have considered moving to the emirate to enjoy a peaceful lifestyle at a lower price.
RAK is becoming particularly popular among airline pilots, as their unusual working hours make traffic congestion less of a concern. The Emirates Road to Dubai International Airport, a distance or 50km, takes an average of 45 minutes to drive from RAK.
The northern emirate also became attractive after the opening of Hilton's luxury Waldorf Astoria hotel in August, which brought a number of repeat visitors. Some of those visitors have chosen to buy property in the emirate rather than keep spending money on hotels.
Tourism also remains an important means for drawing people into the emirate.
International hotel chains in RAK, including Banyan Tree, Hilton and Rotana, attracted more than 1 million visitors in recent years.
Property prices in the emirate increased by an average 10 to 15 per cent by the end of 2013 compared with a year earlier, with the improving global economy encouraging people to buy.
Source The National [Click to read article]
