What happened
Meraas — one of Dubai's leading developers and a member of Dubai Holding Real Estate — announced on 24 September 2026 that it has awarded a contract worth close to AED 1 billion to main contractor GCC Contracting to deliver Phase 7 of the Nad Al Sheba Gardens master plan in Dubai. According to the official Meraas press release, construction is already under way; handover is scheduled for Q2 2028.
Scope of the contract
Phase 7 is a large family villa cluster inside the Nad Al Sheba Gardens master plan. GCC Contracting's scope covers:
- 130 villas with 4, 5, 6 or 7 bedrooms;
- 142 townhouses with 3 bedrooms;
- Pool houses and the full community infrastructure of the phase.
Total — 272 residential units. The master plan bundles a full premium-family amenity set: walking, cycling and running tracks, multi-sports facilities, swimming pools, yoga lawns, children's play areas and the on-site Nad Al Sheba Gardens retail mall. It's a self-contained community built for long-term family living, not tourist short-term rental.
Where Nad Al Sheba Gardens sits
The Nad Al Sheba district is about 10 minutes' drive from Downtown Dubai. Key landmarks nearby: Meydan Racetrack (home of the Dubai World Cup) and Dubai International Airport (DXB) within a short drive. The positioning is family-premium — not the tourist-arbitrage segment.
Meraas and GCC Contracting on the record
The press-release quote comes from Khalid Al Malik, CEO of Dubai Holding Real Estate: awarding the Phase 7 contract reflects continued demand for premium master-planned residential communities. On the contractor side, Bipin Chandran, CEO of GCC Contracting, emphasised full commitment to world-class execution at every construction stage.
What it means for buyers and investors
A ~AED 1bn ticket for a single phase is an operational signal broader than a one-off sale: a major developer is putting capital behind further expansion of the top villa segment, which means another meaningful pool of quality family housing will land in Dubai across 2027–2028.
For a non-resident buyer, Phase 7 is a classic off-plan case with a key event in Q2 2028: entry at the developer's launch price and delivery roughly 1.5 years after the sales window opens. If you're weighing the deal on returns, before signing an SPA it's worth benchmarking the actual Dubai property ROI and how to model returns on the villa segment — with realistic occupancy, service charges and long-term rental assumptions.
For a professional investor, the wider signal is that Meraas and Dubai Holding Real Estate keep building inventory in the premium family segment, which lines up with Dubai's macro trends — inflows of middle- and upper-middle-class expats and steady demand for family residency. For how this fits the country's broader growth trajectory, see our separate UAE economy outlook for 2026.
Where Dubai's market is heading
Nad Al Sheba Gardens Phase 7 is not a one-off launch: in 2026 major Dubai developers keep adding pipeline specifically in the family villa segment, not only in Downtown and Marina high-rises. That matches a broader demand shift — from investment studios and one-beds to homes for permanent family living by expats staying in Dubai for 5–10 years and longer. Hence the master plan's focus on children's zones, sports, on-site retail and considered street fabric.
272 units in a single phase is a meaningful — not record — size; a 2028 handover horizon is standard off-plan; and a 10-minute distance from Downtown is premium but not ultra-central, keeping headline price-per-square-foot within reason.
What to do now
- Prospective buyers — request the current Phase 7 payment plan from Meraas or accredited brokers and benchmark price per square foot against comparable stock in Nad Al Sheba, Meydan and Mohammed Bin Rashid City.
- Investors — factor in that 272 units is a meaningful but not market-moving volume: don't expect a sharp price move from this single launch, but read it as reinforcement of a major player's confidence in the segment.
- Anyone eyeing property-based investor residency — Phase 7's base configurations comfortably clear the AED 2m threshold, and off-plan with progress payments is counted for investor visas under ICP and Dubai Land Department conditions. The transaction's legal structure and FTA position for a non-resident is a separate checklist that's better completed before signing an SPA.
