Meraas awards nearly AED 1bn to build 272 villas and townhouses at Nad Al Sheba Gardens

Meraas has appointed GCC Contracting to build Phase 7 of Nad Al Sheba Gardens under a contract worth close to AED 1 billion, about USD 272 million. The scope includes 130 villas and 142 townhouses, together with pool houses, utilities and the supporting infrastructure. Works have already begun, and the programme targets completion in the second quarter of 2028.

The award continues a steady sequence at the community. A year earlier Meraas placed a contract of around AED 690 million for the fourth phase, and it has since announced an eleventh and final phase of 210 villas and townhouses alongside a school. The National's coverage highlighted that the latest phase includes seven-bedroom villas, pointing firmly to the upper end of the family market.

Most of the homes arriving in Dubai this year and next are apartments. Villas and townhouses have been the scarce product through the current cycle, and that scarcity is a large part of why ground-level homes in established communities have held their value more firmly than many towers. A phase of 272 houses does not change that picture on its own, but it is the kind of supply that matters most to end users.

It is also a reminder of how master developers are pacing release. Rather than one large launch, Nad Al Sheba Gardens has been built out phase by phase, with contracts following sales. That cadence tends to protect pricing in the existing phases, because new stock arrives in measured tranches. For owners already in the community, it suggests the surrounding amenity and school will mature on a visible timetable.

If you are a family buyer, a Q2 2028 handover is a long wait, and the honest comparison is with ready villas in neighbouring communities today. Off-plan gives you a new home and staged payments; ready stock gives you certainty and an immediate move. With apartment deliveries heavy and villa deliveries light, the ready villa market is unlikely to soften quickly, so do not delay a ready purchase in the hope it will.

If you are an investor or an existing owner, phased releases at this scale are supportive rather than threatening. Large houses with private pools rent and resell to a narrower but steadier audience than one-bedroom apartments. The risk to watch is not oversupply within Nad Al Sheba itself, but how many comparable villa phases other master developers place on site across the same 2028 window.