Off-plan projects in Mina Al Arab, Ras Al-Khaimah

One developer, two very different price tiers

Off-plan projects in Mina Al Arab all come from RAK Properties, which drew up the master plan and is building every phase of it, and the range inside that single portfolio is the striking part. Mid-market apartment buildings sit in the same plan as branded beachfront residences that carry hotel and fashion names from outside the region, with townhouse and beach-house releases in between.

The community occupies a stretch of the Ras Al Khaimah coast built around what was already there: tidal lagoons, mangrove channels and a natural beach, with island districts threaded through them. That is a different proposition from a dredged marina, and it is the emirate’s main argument. The city of Ras Al Khaimah is minutes away, Dubai roughly an hour by road, and a major integrated resort is under construction on the island nearby, which is why international brands have started putting their names on buildings here.

The list runs to around ten launches, priced from about $260K and reaching beyond $7M at the branded end, with handover dates spread from 2025 to 2029. Booking deposits range from 5% to 20% depending on the scheme, followed by instalments through construction and a balance at handover. Ras Al Khaimah sells these waterfront communities freehold to buyers of any nationality, which is not the case everywhere in the northern emirates.

Two buyers are being served at once. At the lower end it is investors and residents priced out of comparable Dubai waterfront, paying roughly what an inland Dubai flat costs for a lagoon-side one here. At the top it is second-home buyers following the brands and the resort economy, in a market where that product barely existed a few years ago. Gorilla Real Estate’s specialists track both tiers and can say which phases open onto the water and which sit a street back, and what the resort timetable is likely to mean for values. Off-plan properties for sale in Mina Al Arab are listed above.