Ajmal Makan Real Estate Development

Ajmal Makan’s Place in Shaping Sharjah’s Coastal Urban Vision

Ajmal Makan Real Estate Development has become a notable name in Sharjah’s transformation of its northern coastline. The company’s projects focus on creating master-planned waterfront communities where infrastructure, residential living, and leisure facilities are delivered as part of a single vision. With its flagship multi-island development, the firm connects architecture, lifestyle amenities, and public spaces in a way that reflects a long-term coastal growth strategy.

 

Leadership Roots and Corporate Identity of Ajmal Makan

Ajmal Makan Real Estate Development, headquartered in the UAE, is led by CEO Sultan Al Shakrah, with external records also naming Sheikh Abdullah bin Fahid Al Shakrah among its founders. The leadership’s public statements highlight a focus on developing integrated, sustainable, and well-connected waterfront communities in Sharjah. These profiles underline the intent to merge large-scale real estate projects with environmental considerations and community-oriented planning.

 

Ajmal Makan’s Master-Planning Approach in Sharjah Waterfront City

From its earliest project communications, Ajmal Makan positioned itself as a master developer responsible for the multi-phase “Ajmal Makan City – Sharjah Waterfront City.” This coastal megaproject combines residential villas, mid-rise apartments, hospitality offerings, retail centres, and leisure facilities. The company’s “infrastructure-first” principle—ensuring road networks, bridges, and essential utilities are ready before residents move in—appears repeatedly in both marketing materials and project briefings, framing the development as a fully functional community from the moment of handover.

 

Ajmal Makan’s Sharjah Waterfront City 

Sharjah Waterfront City is the centrepiece of Ajmal Makan’s development portfolio, representing one of the largest coastal master plans in the emirate. Designed across multiple connected islands, the project integrates residential, leisure, and retail spaces with extensive marine infrastructure. Its layout and scale have been repeatedly cited in regional real estate coverage as a defining part of Sharjah’s coastal expansion.

The Scale and Geography of Ajmal Makan’s Waterfront Vision

The Ajmal Makan City – Sharjah Waterfront City masterplan spans approximately 60 million square feet (about 5.6 million m²), arranged over eight man-made islands linked by canals and bridges. This configuration creates a network of water channels and land plots that maximise both shoreline exposure and navigable routes. The design accommodates wide coastal promenades, green belts, and access points for boats and pedestrians, reflecting a planned balance between transport, leisure, and community living.

 

Core Components Planned for the City

Within the masterplan, Ajmal Makan has disclosed several major elements:

• 36 km of coastline providing continuous beachfront and promenade space.
  
  

• An 800-berth marina designed to cater to a mix of private yachts and visitor vessels.
  
  

• A regional-scale shopping mall with about 1.33 million sq ft of leasable space and a total built-up area of 5.25 million sq ft.
  
  

• Residential districts blending villas and mid-rise apartments, supported by hospitality venues and retail strips along canal boulevards.
  
  

Ajmal Makan’s Waterfront City Components

In Sharjah Waterfront City, Ajmal Makan combines different real estate typologies, public amenities, and essential services into a unified coastal framework. Each component is positioned to function as part of a larger, self-sustaining urban system, where residential life, retail activity, and leisure spaces are supported by early-stage infrastructure delivery. This integration is at the core of the developer’s approach.

 

From Sun Island Villas to Blue Bay Walk

The residential program includes a mix of low-density and mid-density housing. Sun Island features stand-alone villas with direct waterfront access, designed for larger households seeking private outdoor areas. Blue Bay Walk, by contrast, consists of six mid-rise towers offering studios to two-bedroom apartments, complete with shared podium amenities. This variety provides options for both full-time residents and short-term occupiers.

Retail Framework and Canal-Front Shopping Experience

Within the islands, retail is planned as a central attraction rather than an afterthought. A canal-front mall anchors the shopping experience, complemented by a boulevard lined with cafes, boutiques, and restaurants. This arrangement ensures daily convenience for residents while also attracting visitors from outside the community.

 

Leisure Elements Interwoven with the Waterfront

Leisure spaces extend across beach-facing promenades, landscaped parks, and the 800-berth marina. In the mid-rise clusters, podium decks house pools, gyms, and recreation areas, providing everyday leisure without leaving the neighbourhood.

 

Infrastructure as the Project’s Foundation

Ajmal Makan’s infrastructure rollout prioritises road networks, bridges, utilities, and public realm spaces early in the development timeline. By establishing these systems in the initial phases, the masterplan reduces future disruption for residents and allows each phase to operate independently once completed.

 

How These Components Interact in Daily Life

Rather than treating residential, retail, and leisure as separate zones, the plan positions them within walking distance of each other. Villas may overlook the marina while being only a few minutes from retail areas; apartment residents can access both the beach and public transport links without relying heavily on cars. This layout reflects a walkable, integrated coastal community model, tailored to Sharjah’s geography and waterfront potential.

Ajmal Makan’s Sun Island Villas

Sun Island is the low-density residential heart of Ajmal Makan’s Sharjah Waterfront City. This phase combines seafront positioning with mid-to-large-format villas, designed to give residents private outdoor space while keeping them within the connected island network. Public specifications from the developer and real estate portals outline the unit range, build sizes, and smart-home integration that shape the identity of this community.

Unit Counts and Bedroom Configurations on Sun Island

The Sun Island phase contains approximately 321 villas, according to listings and sales material. Layouts range from four-bedroom homes for smaller households to seven-bedroom residences for larger families. These configurations are consistent across both the developer’s official specifications and third-party market listings.

 

Plot Sizes and Built-Up Areas

Ajmal Makan’s published plans indicate that a six-bedroom villa may have a plot size anywhere between 5,071 sq ft and 11,415 sq ft, depending on the location within the island. Built-up areas vary in proportion, accommodating both expansive indoor spaces and landscaped outdoor areas. These size bands are confirmed across developer materials and independent broker sites.

 

Technology and Smart-Home Integration

The developer describes Sun Island villas as “smart homes,” with app-based control systems for lighting, temperature, and security. This feature is marketed as part of a “future lifestyle” approach, integrating technology into day-to-day living.

 

Ajmal Makan’s Blue Bay Walk: Mid-Rise Waterfront Living with Podium Amenities

Blue Bay Walk is the mid-rise counterpart to Sun Island, offering apartment living within the same masterplan. It introduces a higher-density option for residents who prefer serviced amenities and closer proximity to retail and leisure spaces.

 

Building Composition and Unit Mix

The development consists of six residential towers arranged in three pairs, each connected by a podium. Together, they contain about 600 apartments, with a mix of studios, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units. This configuration provides flexibility for singles, couples, and smaller families.

 

Amenities and Orientation

Each podium contains leisure decks with swimming pools, spa facilities, and children’s play areas. The complex is positioned along the beach-facing edge of the masterplan, allowing many units to enjoy direct water views. Retail and F&B outlets occupy the ground floor, creating a self-contained lifestyle cluster.

 

Completion and Integration into the Masterplan

Blue Bay Walk reached completion in Q2 2022. Its location and design integrate seamlessly into the island network, offering residents quick access to the same marina, promenades, and retail options available to villa owners on Sun Island.

 

The View Island and Blue Beach Residence

Ajmal Makan’s 2025 announcements included two new sub-projects — The View Island and Blue Beach Residence — signalling the developer’s continued build-out of Sharjah Waterfront City. Both projects are designed to expand the residential mix and reinforce the waterfront lifestyle theme.

 

The View Island: Waterfront Villas and Townhouses

Public descriptions portray The View Island as a waterside community within the masterplan, featuring both villas and townhouses. This sub-project is planned to capture sea views while remaining connected to the main transport and leisure networks of the city.

 

Blue Beach Residence: Apartments with Sustainability Features

Launched in early 2025, Blue Beach Residence is presented as a sustainability-aligned mid-rise complex. It continues the masterplan’s integration of residential, leisure, and retail, while adding design features that aim to reduce environmental impact.

Scale of the Overall Program

By March 2025, trade publications placed the total value of Ajmal Makan City – Sharjah Waterfront at approximately AED 25 billion (about US$6.8 billion). The full development still aligns with the original 60 million sq ft plan, covering residential, hospitality, retail, and public realm space over multiple phases.

Ajmal Makan’s Recognitions and Industry Presence

Over the past several years, Ajmal Makan Real Estate Development has appeared in multiple real estate and business platforms, both for its flagship project — Sharjah Waterfront City — and for its approach to large-scale master planning. The company’s recognition includes awards from regional industry bodies, as well as repeated coverage in trade media outlining the scope and details of its developments.

 

Awards and Formal Recognitions Listed by the Developer

On its official “About” page, Ajmal Makan notes receiving the Arabian Business Real Estate Award – Best Waterfront Project (2018) and the Al Leem Leadership & Management Excellence Award (2018). These accolades have been catalogued by independent award aggregators and real estate portals. As with any industry recognition, verifying the criteria and judging process can help place these awards in context.

 

How Ajmal Makan Appears in Trade and Real Estate Media

The company’s projects — and particularly the Sharjah Waterfront City masterplan — have been regularly featured in regional property portals and news outlets. Coverage often includes headline details such as the eight-island configuration, total planned area, length of coastline, marina capacity, and phased delivery model. This recurring media presence helps keep the project visible to industry professionals and prospective buyers alike.

 

Comparing Ajmal Makan with Other UAE Master Developers

To better understand Ajmal Makan’s position in the UAE market, it helps to compare publicly available data about its portfolio, scale, and focus areas with those of other developers. This table provides a descriptive, fact-based snapshot without assigning any ranking or value judgment.

 

 

Ajmal Makan’s Delivered Projects

Several components of Ajmal Makan’s Sharjah Waterfront City are already completed and operational, while others remain in the planning or early development phase. The mix of delivered residential clusters and upcoming large-scale amenities gives a clear picture of how the masterplan is unfolding in stages.

 

Completed Residential Components

Blue Bay Walk — Completed in Q2 2022, this six-building cluster forms the mid-rise element of the masterplan. It includes podium-level leisure decks with swimming pools and spa facilities, while the ground floor is lined with retail and dining outlets. The location along the waterfront gives residents immediate access to the promenade and marina area.

Sun Island — This villa community consists of approximately 321 homes, with layouts ranging from four to seven bedrooms. All units feature a smart-home system for lighting, climate, and security control. While sales and marketing for Sun Island remain active, handover timelines vary by unit type and phase, as noted in developer updates and broker listings.

 

Planned and Announced Developments

Waterfront Mall and Retail Boulevard — A major commercial anchor for the city, the mall is planned to offer about 1.33 million sq ft of leasable space, within a 5.25 million sq ft total built-up area. It will connect directly to canal-side boulevards designed for shopping, dining, and public events.

Marina and Public Shoreline — The masterplan includes an 800-berth marina and a landscaped shoreline with public promenades. These areas will serve both residents and visitors, creating a focal point for leisure and tourism activity.

The View Island and Blue Beach Residence — Announced in 2025, these new residential phases aim to expand the housing mix with sea-facing villas, townhouses, and mid-rise apartments, continuing the coastal lifestyle theme established in earlier stages.

Al Thuraya Island

Launched in mid-2024, Al Thuraya Island is one of the most notable recent additions to Ajmal Makan City. Covering around 5 million sq ft, it includes over 1.3 million sq ft of green space and a 564,000 sq ft private beach. The development offers a range of luxury properties — from Sea Breeze Villas and Serene Villas to Majestic Mansions — with designs by XBD Collective that emphasize indoor-outdoor harmony, premium finishes, and eco-conscious details. Its location provides quick access to both Sharjah International Airport and Dubai International Airport, adding practical value alongside its waterfront setting.

 

Ajmal Makan’s Market Position

The Ajmal Makan City – Sharjah Waterfront masterplan carries an estimated overall value of AED 25 billion (about US$6.8 billion), according to trade coverage in March 2025. This figure reflects the full multi-phase program, which spans residential, retail, leisure, and public realm components. Its size and budget place it among the most prominent ongoing urban developments in Sharjah by total investment.

Position Within Sharjah’s Development Landscape

In Sharjah’s broader real estate market, Ajmal Makan’s coastal, island-based plan offers a contrast to other large-scale projects. For example, Arada’s Aljada — covering 24 million sq ft in the Muwaileh district — follows a more metropolitan model, with a central business district, education zones, and office space. Together, these projects illustrate the diversity in how major developers are reshaping the emirate’s urban fabric, each targeting different geographies and lifestyle concepts.

 

Context in the Wider UAE Masterplan Spectrum

Looking beyond Sharjah, Emaar’s Downtown Dubai represents a dense, globally recognised city core anchored by landmarks such as the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall. In comparison, Ajmal Makan’s approach emphasises a multi-island, waterfront environment. While the scale and location differ, both contribute to the UAE’s positioning as a hub for master-planned, high-profile developments.

Final Notes – Ajmal Makan Real Estate Development

• Ajmal Makan City – Sharjah Waterfront is a multi-phase coastal masterplan covering ~60 million sq ft across eight man-made islands.
  
  

• Estimated total project value stands at AED 25 billion (~US$6.8 billion), making it one of Sharjah’s largest urban developments by investment.
  
  

• Residential options include Sun Island villas (4–7 bedrooms, ~321 units, smart-home systems) and Blue Bay Walk apartments (~600 units across six towers).
  
  

• Planned features include an 800-berth marina, a 1.33 million sq ft leasable waterfront mall, canal-front boulevards, and public shoreline areas.
  
  

• The project follows an infrastructure-first approach, delivering roads, utilities, and bridges before resident occupancy.
  
  

• Awards include the Arabian Business Real Estate Award (2018) and the Al Leem Leadership & Management Excellence Award (2018).
  
  

• Ajmal Makan’s coastal focus contrasts with Arada’s Aljada (urban CBD model) and Emaar’s Downtown Dubai (dense city core).
  
  

• Media coverage in 2025 highlights the ongoing expansion through The View Island and Blue Beach Residence phases.