The ‘Maldives Floating City,’ a 5,000-house development by Dutch Docklands in a lagoon near the capital, has been changed to an integrated tourism project upon advice from the government’s economic council.
A “million dollar alternating payment fee” was paid and a new agreement was signed between the tourism ministry and Dutch Dockland Maldives, a joint venture or public-private partnership formed between the government and the Netherlands developer.
“A first block of floating homes is under construction by [local resort construction company] Bison and is due to be transported to the lagoon and opened in August after the school holidays. This will enable the public to visit and see first hand how the homes will look like,” according to the company.
“The marine engineering, technical details and specifications for the Maldives Floating City development have been completed, and construction will begin immediately after remaining government approvals have been granted. The modular city construction is accordingly scheduled for January 2023 and will take 4 to 5 years to complete.”
The housing units are to be tethered to the lagoon floor and linked together.
According to local media reports, the integrated tourism concept allows residential buildings on the two resorts to be developed on reclaimed islands as part of the project. At the agreement signing ceremony, Dutch Dockland Maldives CEO Paul Van de Camp told the press that the US$250,000 price of a floating home is under review and could be lowered to a more affordable range for local buyers.
The project drew international media attention over the past week with coverage from CNN, USA Today, Business Insider and several other outlets.
