Dubai New homes caters for horses

[Offplanpropertyexchange]

We all know how important horses are in the Arab culture, so this project is so sipmle and yet will have great appeal. An equestrian community where residents can see a horse from wherever they are on the property has brought a new housing concept to the UAE’s smallest emirate.

The US$720 million (Dh2.6 billion) project, called Escape, will enable residents to keep their own horses, or simply live near the animals and take riding lessons at their leisure.
The parallel with golf communities is obvious: a residential development based on a specific recreational activity, with a clubhouse and other specially designed facilities at its heart.

Located on the Ajman-Sharjah border, the Escape community will stretch over 80 hectares and feature 500 villas and 140 apartments with gardens. It will have 12 to 14 indoor and outdoor riding arenas, along with training facilities, bridle paths, restaurants, swimming pools, an equestrian-themed hotel with 150 rooms, stabling for more than 200 horses and an equestrian spa for the rehabilitation of injured horses.
“The views are designed so that wherever you may be in the complex, you will see a horse,” says Mr Sher. “When you are sitting in the salon getting your hair done, you will be able to see someone not far from you getting a riding lesson, for instance.”

Escape’s distinction is that “the people behind Escape are horse people”, rather than pure property developers and businessmen. The horse world here is different from other parts of the world, she adds. “People tend not to look after their own horses. They have a groom. So they come, the horse will be equipped, they ride it, hand it back to the groom and go home. The nice thing about Escape is that they are going to educate people that horses are more than that.”
At the heart of the Escape community will be Hoofbeatz, a two-level clubhouse that will also serve as the headquarters for horse-related programmes.

“Escape is not only for horse experts,” she says. “We want to foster a new generation of equine enthusiasts and professionals in the UAE. In this part of the world, the horses tend to be owned by members of the royal family, or very rich people. I am trying to find ways to broaden the base of the horse industry.”
Hoofbeatz also plans to run summer camps for young people, who will be housed in a specially designed, 56-room hostel at Escape.

Another motivation for developing Escape is the many horses in the UAE that “don’t have a job”, says Mr Sher, who estimates the country’s equine population at 8,000 to 9,000 animals, many of which are retired competitive horses.

“The horse racing season is short and only the best animals are used to compete. Also, many barns are specialised – Arabian breeding, jumping, dressage or racing – and won’t handle animals that don’t fit exactly in their mould.”
The cost of keeping these horses is a big issue, adds Ms Verdieck. “Everything is imported and you need to ensure good air conditioning with eight air changes an hour. Each horse costs about Dh5,000 a month, and as a result many retired horses end up becoming a problem rather than an asset.”

The purpose of Escape and its Hoofbeatz centre is to give the horses a second lease on life – for example, as show horses, pleasure horses and for entertainment and education, even to help people suffering from depression.
Escape will also have an equine spa, which both residents and outside horse owners may use, to rehabilitate injured or stressed animals. “It’s a big business in the US and in Europe,” says Mr Sher. “We believe that this is a very much needed facility in the region.”

The main concern of EMS’s managers and investors is that Escape’s mission is sustainable. Hence the addition of housing. The revenue from property sales will help to fund the equine components, while the residents themselves will form a vibrant and self-sustaining community with a shared interest in horses. “We have to build to last,” Mr Sher says, “which means looking at the lifestyle of the operation. We don’t want to see empty barns after four or five years and have to lay off horses.”
One of the elements that Mr Sher believes will help create a sustainable community is the right mix of buyers. “We are trying to prevent people from buying many villas,” he says. “You can buy one for yourself and another one for someone else.”

The team undertook research into horse lovers and other people likely to live in the community. “We found a large number of young professionals and families living typically in a flat. So we have designed affordable homes for them with two bedrooms and a garden.”
So far the concept of mixing homes with horses seems to be proving popular. About 67 per cent of the villas at Escape have been sold, mostly to Europeans and Asian-British nationals, but also a large proportion of Emirati buyers, according to Mr Sher, despite the fact that ground-breaking will only take place this month, and it will not be completed before 2010.

The largest villas were released at Dh2.4m although they are already worth about Dh3m, according Mr Sher. “I know that I could have doubled the price [initially] but it doesn’t serve our purpose” he says.
EMS intends to replicate the Escape concept and will announce more equine communities in the next six to 12 months – one each in Morocco and India, two more in the UAE, and possibly one in Pakistan later.

“This is not just a project,” says Ms Verdieck. “It’s a passion.”