Both domestic and international real estate developers are concentrating their efforts on the nine strategic areas that the Dubai Metro's Blue Line will link, with many new plan projects expected to enter the market in the upcoming years. Consequently, there will be an increase in the pipeline of off-plan units in the upcoming years, particularly in the apartment market.
The recently opened Blue Line, which has 14 stops, will link the Dubai International Airport with the following places: International City 1, International City 2, Creek Harbour, Academic City, Al Warqa, Mirdif, Silicon Oasis, Ras Al Khor Industrial Area, and Festival City.
Due to the substantial population growth in these locations, travel times between these destinations will be reduced to 10 to 25 minutes, carrying 200,000 people daily by 2030 and 320,000 by 2040. Developers will progressively target these locations to launch their off-plan apartments, which have been the driving force behind the local real estate market, in light of the strong demand for residential units in these areas.
There are two primary routes of the Dubai Metro Blue Line. Dubai Festival City, Dubai Creek Harbour, and Ras Al Khor are all on the first route, which starts at the Creek Interchange Station on the Green Line and ends at Dubai International City 1, which also features an interchange station. The path keeps going up to the Academic City and Dubai Silicon Oasis before reaching Dubai International Cities 2 and 3. There are ten stops over the 21 km length of this stretch.
The second route begins at Al Rashidiya's Centerpoint Interchange Station on the Red Line. It ends at the Dubai International City 1 Interchange Station after passing through Mirdif and Al Warqaa districts. The development of a metro depot at Al Ruwayyah 3 is another aspect of the project.
On-going projects in key areas linked by Blue Line include:
Dubai Silicon Oasis
Tria (estimated value $140m) by Deyaar Property Management
Dubai Creek Harbour (all by Emaar):
- Cove II (estimated value $160m)
- Creek Palace (estimated value $100 million)
- Dubai Creek Tower ($1 billion)
- Creek Waters (estimated value $350 million)
Emaar is developing the whole Dubai Creek Harbour; projects valued at around 66% of the total development value have been finished, with the remainder still in the planning phases.
International City:
- Warsan Village (estimated value $600m) by Nakheel
- Dragon City Towers (estimated value $196m) by Nakheel
