Arada, a developer of lifestyle megaprojects in the UAE’s northern emirate Sharjah, has partnered with SABIS, the operator of International School of Choueifat schools, to launch a new international school in Sharjah at a cost of AED 200 million ($55 million).

The new school will be built at Arada’s AED 24 billion ($6.5 billion) mixed-use community destination, Aljada, with construction set to begin in January 2020 and be completed by September 2021.

“The cost for the school we are building in partnership with SABIS is AED 200 million, and we are currently in talks with other global education providers about three other schools,” Ahmed Al Khushaibi, CEO of Arada told Zawya.

The developer has recently launched ‘Nest’, a new student accommodation complex that enables real estate investors to purchase directly in the student housing segment in the UAE

 “The total sales value of the Nest community is AED 800 million; we have sold about half of the project so far, and recently added an extra two buildings to the Nest master plan, resulting in 12 buildings in all,” Arada’s CEO said in emailed responses to Zawya.

“Sales for the second half of Nest, where we are offering a 10 percent return on investment every year for 10 years, begin on Sunday June 15,” he added.

The population of Sharjah, estimated at 1.4 million, is steadily growing with the school-age demographic expected to double by 2025, which is set to raise demand for schools in the Northern emirate. 

The new SABIS school will be located on a 670,000-square foot plot within the Aljada development, and staff housing will be provided in the complex. It will be the second SABIS-operated school in Sharjah, and the fifteenth in the UAE. The global education network is already present in 20 countries worldwide.

Aljada is a 24 million square foot megaproject that was launched in September 2017.  Construction of the master-planned community began in April 2018, and the first homes are scheduled to be handed over by the end of 2019. Read Zawya’s interview with Sheikh Sultan Al Qasimi after the project launched here 

(Reporting by Nada Al-Rifai; Editing by Anoop Menon)
( nada.rifai@refinitiv.com )

© ZAWYA 2019