The Beach Vista

Range Development adds a third building a minute from The Beach House

The Beach Vista sits a minute from The Beach House and three minutes from The Beach Residences, the two schemes Range Development has already delivered on Al Marjan Island. The developer is sticking to familiar ground. The building has two basement levels, a ground floor and fifteen residential floors. It holds only studios and one or two bedroom apartments. Handover is set for December 2027, around the time the island is due to see the Wynn Al Marjan complex open directly across from it.

Range's third address on the same island

Range Development describes itself as an award winning developer focused on waterfront residential projects, and its brochure highlights two track records: The Beach House and The Beach Residences. The new project sits a few hundred metres from both buildings. For a buyer, this clustering has its uses, since you can walk over and check the finishes, the upkeep of the common areas and how a building from the same developer holds up over time. There is a downside too: all three products target the same buyer pool in the same stretch of coastline. Expect direct competition at resale and in the rental market, on top of competition from the bigger names already on the island (Emaar, Aldar, DAMAC, Ellington).

Glazed facades and a stepped volume

The building is laid out in a series of terraces. Floors set back as they rise, which lightens the profile on the beach side. The facades are largely glazed, with straight lines and little ornamentation. This stepped layout also serves the interiors, since the large windows facing the Persian Gulf are meant to bring in as much natural light as possible. At fifteen habitable levels, the building sits in the middle of the pack for the island. It's taller than ten storey projects such as Manta Bay, but shorter than Emaar's towers, which run past twenty levels. The architect isn't named in the available documents.

Studios, one and two bedrooms, nothing beyond that

The developer has deliberately kept the unit mix narrow. There are no three bedroom units, no penthouses, no duplexes. What's on offer here are small beachfront units with lower entry price points than the bigger family layouts elsewhere. This targets two buyer types in particular: investors looking to let on a nightly or weekly basis to guests of the hotels and the future casino, and buyers wanting a pied-a-terre for a few weeks a year. Families looking to live there year round will find few options, especially given a freehold status open to foreign buyers that attracts mostly investment demand rather than owner occupiers. The brochure shows bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom laid out as open plan, but no unit sizes are given.

Infinity pool, cabanas and direct beach access

Private beach access is the most concrete feature on the amenities list, since it's what separates a beachfront building from one set back from the shore. At the pool, the developer has planned an infinity pool with open views, cabanas and a sunken seating area meant as a gathering spot. On the wellness side there's a sauna and an indoor gym. Add to that a coworking space, a lounge and a concierge service, useful if you hand the rental management over to a third party. The project also includes 24 hour security with CCTV, assigned parking spaces and a maintenance warranty.

Wynn across the street, DXB 45 minutes away

The project faces the Wynn Al Marjan Resort, the project currently pulling up prices across the island. Around it, the brochure places the Waldorf Astoria at 10 minutes, the Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah and the Al Hamra golf course at 12 minutes, and Al Hamra Village at 15 minutes. Toward Dubai, the developer cites 45 minutes to DXB airport and around an hour to Dubai Mall and DIFC. These drive times assume smooth traffic on the E311, which isn't a given during peak hours. Still, they put the project within reach of renters arriving through Dubai, and that's a large part of what the business case for these small units rests on.