The Acres by Meraas: Standalone Lagoon Villas in Dubailand — Prices, Payment Plan & 2026 Guide
- The Acres is a standalone villa community in Dubailand, built by Meraas around swimmable natural-style lagoons, seven themed gardens and a green "Halo Loop" corridor connecting every neighbourhood.
- Villas span 3 to 7 bedrooms across two collections — Acres Villas (3–5BR) and Acres Estates (5–7BR, Ivory and Amber designs) — from AED 5.09 million at launch, with sizes from roughly 3,048 sq ft to 9,600+ sq ft.
- Both Acres Villas and Acres Estates are officially sold out from the developer; almost every 2026 buyer is now looking at resale listings, which run from about AED 4.9 million to AED 19.5 million depending on bedroom count.
- Meraas has offered variants of a construction-linked payment plan, most commonly summarised as roughly 65% paid during construction (including booking) and 35% on handover.
- Handover is phased: Property Finder lists the main completion date as 15 February 2028, while Bayut's phase breakdown spreads delivery from Q4 2027 (Estates) through Q3 2028 (Phase 3) — treat "Q1 2028" as the headline, not a single fixed date.
- The Acres sits alongside three other new Dubailand nature-themed communities — Athlon by Aldar, Ghaf Woods by Majid Al Futtaim and Sobha Elwood — each built around a different green concept but competing for the same buyer.
- Meraas is a Dubai Holding subsidiary with over 80 million sq ft delivered, including City Walk, La Mer, Bluewaters and Port de La Mer — a track record worth weighing against the newer, less-tested Dubailand developers.
If you searched for The Acres because you saw "swimmable lagoons" and "standalone villas from AED 5 million" in the same sentence, here is the short version: the community is real, it is largely built, and — critically for anyone trying to buy in — the developer is no longer selling it. Almost everything transacting today is resale. This guide works through what The Acres actually is, what villas cost in 2026, how the payment plan and handover timeline break down, and how it stacks up against the three other new nature-themed communities rising alongside it in Dubailand. Every figure below is dated and sourced to Meraas's own project pages, Property Finder and Bayut listing data — where sources disagreed, we say so rather than picking the more flattering number. Last updated: July 2026.
The Acres by Meraas at a Glance
The Acres is a master-planned, standalone-villa community developed by Meraas in Dubailand, positioned near Arabian Ranches and the Plantation Equestrian & Polo Club. It launched on 13 January 2024 at Meraas's City Walk Sales Boutique, per the project's official site, and sold out its initial villa release "in a matter of hours" according to multiple broker listings — a launch-day detail worth noting for context, though we could not independently verify the exact timing.
The community is split into two residential collections. Acres Villas covers 3 to 5-bedroom standalone homes on plots from roughly 3,048 to 6,001 sq ft. Acres Estates is the larger-format collection — 5 to 7-bedroom homes in two design lines, Ivory (built around a central mature tree) and Amber (a more minimalist, water-feature-led aesthetic), on plots up to around 9,600 sq ft in the largest resale listings. Both collections share the same master-plan infrastructure: swimmable lagoons, a green pedestrian spine, and community-scale retail and schooling.
Unlike apartment-led Dubailand launches, there is no tower here — every home is a standalone villa with private garden space, which is the core of Meraas's pitch against the townhouse and semi-detached formats used by most of its immediate competitors. For the wider investment case around Dubailand as a corridor, see our Dubai real estate investment guide.
The design distinction between the two Estates lines is worth understanding before shortlisting a resale unit, since it affects both layout and plot orientation. The Ivory Collection is organised around a mature tree standing at the centre of each home's private garden — a landscaping-led layout that tends to push living spaces outward toward the perimeter of the plot. The Amber Collection takes a more minimalist architectural approach, built around water features rather than a central tree, with a cleaner façade line. Neither is objectively better; the choice comes down to whether a buyer wants the garden or the water feature as the visual anchor of the home, and resale listings should specify which collection a unit belongs to.
Location: Where Exactly Is The Acres in Dubailand?
The Acres sits within Dubailand's central belt, with direct road access onto Sheikh Zayed Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street and onward to Emirates Road (E611) — the ring road that links most of Dubai's newer villa communities to Downtown, the airports and the northern emirates. Per Meraas's own site, the community is roughly 10 minutes from Global Village and 5 minutes from the Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club, and it borders the established Arabian Ranches community, which gives it an unusually mature neighbour for a Dubailand launch — most new lagoon-and-forest communities in this corridor (Athlon, Ghaf Woods, Sobha Elwood) are surrounded by other construction sites rather than a finished, decade-old villa district.
That proximity matters for two practical reasons. First, buyers get a reasonably accurate read on what "finished Dubailand" looks like by driving through Arabian Ranches today — see our Arabian Ranches area guide for prices, schools and rental yields in the neighbouring, already-delivered community. Second, retail, schooling and healthcare infrastructure already exists nearby even while The Acres's own on-site facilities are still being built out — a genuine advantage over more isolated launches further out on Al Ain Road or in Emaar South.
For a household weighing daily commute time rather than weekend leisure access, the Emirates Road connection is the more important detail. It puts Downtown Dubai, DIFC and Business Bay within a realistic 30–35 minute drive outside peak hours, and gives reasonably direct access north toward Dubai Marina and south toward Al Maktoum International Airport as that corridor continues to build out. That single arterial link is effectively shared infrastructure across all four communities compared later in this guide, so it is not a differentiator between them — but it is a meaningful factor against communities further along Al Ain Road with a longer, single-route commute into central Dubai.
Villa Types, Sizes and Prices in 2026
Pricing at The Acres splits cleanly by collection and bedroom count. Launch prices — what Meraas originally charged before the project sold out — sit well below what resale listings are asking today, which is the first thing any 2026 buyer needs to understand before comparing this to a still-selling launch like Athlon or Ghaf Woods.
| Villa type | Typical size | Original launch price from | 2026 resale asking (AED) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-bedroom (Acres Villas) | 3,048 – 3,915 sq ft | AED 5.09M | 5.505M – 5.63M |
| 4-bedroom (Acres Villas) | 4,091 – 4,874 sq ft | AED 6.8M | 6.4M – 7.2M |
| 5-bedroom (Villas / Estates) | 5,944 – 7,207 sq ft | AED 10M (Villas) / 13.56M (Estates) | 7.8M – 15.7M |
| 6-bedroom (Acres Estates) | ~7,833 sq ft | AED 15.3M | up to 19.5M |
| 7-bedroom estate mansions | Largest plots in the community | AED 20M | from ~14.79M (varies widely by finish/plot) |
Launch prices per Meraas, Property Finder and Acres Villas Dubailand. Resale asking ranges per Bayut's area guide, current as of mid-2026 and subject to daily movement as listings are added, sold or withdrawn.
Across the broader resale pool, Bayut and Property Finder listing aggregates put current asking prices anywhere from about AED 4.9 million to AED 19.5 million, with sizes ranging 4,100 to 9,600 sq ft and an average price per sq ft in the region of AED 1,500 — a level broadly consistent with other new-build Dubailand villa stock, though notably below the price-per-sq-ft ceiling commanded by finished, established communities like Arabian Ranches or Dubai Hills Estate.
Swimmable Lagoons and the Green Corridor Design
The design language that sets The Acres apart from most Dubailand competitors is its lagoon-and-garden network rather than a single showpiece amenity. Per Meraas's official material, the master plan includes:
- Swimmable lagoons and lakes with floating decks, positioned as a genuine year-round recreational amenity rather than an ornamental water feature.
- The Halo Loop Park, a green pedestrian and cycling spine that physically connects every neighbourhood in the community.
- Seven themed gardens — Arrival, Village, Lagoon, Nature, Lost, Perfume and Edible — each built around a different landscaping concept, from palm-lined boulevards and a forest theatre at Arrival Garden to wetlands and wadi trails at Nature Garden.
- Community and Lagoon Clubhouses, an Adventure Park, a Ripe Market retail/dining promenade, a primary school and kindergarten, a mosque, and healthcare facilities.
- 28% of the total masterplan area reserved as open green space, with outdoor gyms, jogging tracks and dog parks woven through the landscaping.
On sustainability, Meraas states The Acres is LEED Gold pre-certified for planning and design, targeting 33% water savings versus the UAE average, an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions relative to conventional developments, EV charging infrastructure and eco-friendly drainage systems. These are developer-stated design targets rather than independently audited operating results, so treat them as intent confirmed at planning stage rather than measured outcomes — the same caveat applies to comparable claims from Ghaf Woods and Athlon.
The 65/35 Payment Plan Explained
Meraas has marketed The Acres under a payment structure most commonly summarised in the market as 65/35 — roughly 65% of the purchase price paid during construction (including the initial booking deposit) and the remaining 35% due on handover. Property Finder's own project listing spells out one concrete version of this: 5% down payment at sales launch, 60% paid during the construction period, and 35% on handover — which totals the familiar 65/35 split when the booking and construction instalments are combined.
| Milestone | % of price | Example on a 4BR villa (AED 6.8M launch price) |
|---|---|---|
| Booking / sales launch | 5% | AED 340,000 |
| During construction | 60% | AED 4,080,000 |
| On handover | 35% | AED 2,380,000 |
Structure per Property Finder's listing for The Acres. Meraas's project pages reference variant structures for different releases, so always confirm the exact milestone schedule attached to the specific resale unit or remaining developer inventory you are considering — payment plans on resold off-plan units are frequently renegotiated or restructured by the assignor. For the general mechanics of how Dubai payment plans work — including post-handover structures used elsewhere in the market — see our off-plan payment plans guide. Beyond the purchase price, budget separately for the standard Dubai Land Department transfer fee and other closing costs, which apply on resale purchases exactly as they would on a fresh developer sale.
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Handover Timeline: What Meraas and Agents Are Saying
The Acres does not have one single, universally agreed handover date — and that is worth stating plainly rather than picking whichever figure sounds cleanest. The sources available disagree on specifics:
- Property Finder's project listing states an expected completion date of 15 February 2028 for the main project, with construction progress recorded at roughly 1.65% as of November 2025.
- Bayut's phase breakdown lists Phase 1 and The Acres Estates for Q1 2028 and Q4 2027 respectively, Phase 2 for Q2 2028, and Phase 3 for Q3 2028 — spreading delivery across more than a full year depending on which release a buyer holds.
The safest summary for a 2026 buyer: expect handovers to begin around late 2027 for the earliest Estates release, with the bulk of standard villa phases completing through the first three quarters of 2028. If you are buying resale, confirm the specific phase and unit number attached to your contract — "The Acres" as a marketing name now covers several sub-phases with meaningfully different completion dates, which is a pattern also seen at Athlon (nine phases) and other large Dubailand masterplans.
Sold Out at Launch: What That Means for the 2026 Resale Market
Both Acres Villas and Acres Estates are listed as sold out directly from the developer. That is unusual among the four Dubailand nature-themed launches covered in this article — Athlon, Ghaf Woods and Sobha Elwood all still had active developer sales channels as of mid-2026 — and it changes the buying calculus considerably. There is no direct-from-developer route into The Acres today; every purchase is either a resale of a completed contract (an "assignment" or "flip" in market terminology) or a secondary purchase after handover.
Property Finder and Bayut listing aggregates show around 189 active resale listings at the time of research, spanning the full AED 4.9 million to AED 19.5 million range covered in the pricing table above.
A 3-bedroom Acres Villa launched from AED 5.09 million in January 2024. Bayut's mid-2026 area guide shows equivalent 3-bedroom units currently asking AED 5.505–5.63 million — roughly 8–11% above the original launch price, more than two years before the final phases even hand over. That is a modest uplift by Dubai off-plan standards, and it says as much about the community's slower, longer construction runway as it does about demand: buyers are not yet pricing in a finished, amenity-complete product, since the lagoons, schools and clubhouses are still under construction. The comparable question for any resale buyer is whether that gap between "asking price today" and "value once amenities are live" is priced correctly — worth modelling with our ROI calculator before committing.
The Acres vs Athlon, Ghaf Woods and Sobha Elwood
The Acres is one of four nature-themed, low-rise communities that have launched in the wider Dubailand corridor since 2023–2024, each built around a different green concept — lagoons at The Acres, "active living" at Athlon, forest at Ghaf Woods, and a second forest concept at Sobha Elwood. All four compete for a similar buyer: end-users and investors who want villa or townhouse-format living within a 25–35 minute drive of central Dubai, at prices below the established Arabian Ranches, Dubai Hills Estate or Tilal Al Ghaf tiers.
| Community | Developer | Unit types & entry price | Launched | Handover |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Acres | Meraas (Dubai Holding) | Standalone 3–7BR villas from AED 5.09M | Jan 2024 | Q4 2027 – Q3 2028 (phased) |
| Athlon by Aldar | Aldar | Townhouses + 3–6BR villas from ~AED 2.8M | 2024 | Phase 1: Q2 2028 |
| Ghaf Woods | Majid Al Futtaim | 1BR apts from ~AED 1.54M; forest villas ~AED 5.19M | 2024 | Q4 2027 |
| Sobha Elwood | Sobha Realty | Standalone 4–6BR villas from ~AED 7.9M | 2024 | ~Q4 2027 |
Three points stand out from this comparison. First, The Acres and Sobha Elwood are both standalone-villa-only communities with no apartment or townhouse product, which puts a floor under their entry price — Athlon and Ghaf Woods both offer cheaper apartment and townhouse entry points for buyers priced out of a full villa. Second, The Acres is the only one of the four already sold out from the developer, meaning it has the least direct-purchase optionality but arguably the most "proof of concept" — it has been selling, building and reselling for over two years, while the others are still mid-launch. Third, each project leans on a different green amenity as its headline differentiator — lagoons (The Acres), certified "active living" wellness design (Athlon), literal forest density (Ghaf Woods and Sobha Elwood) — so the right pick genuinely comes down to which amenity a buyer values, not which is objectively "greener" on paper. For the numbers on how villa investments compare to apartments more broadly across Dubai, see our villa vs apartment investment comparison.
Who Is Meraas? Developer Track Record
Meraas was founded in Dubai in 2007 and became a subsidiary of Dubai Holding in 2020, following a directive from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai; the company's Group Chairman is Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. Per Meraas's own corporate materials, the developer has delivered more than 80 million sq ft of residential and commercial space, with a portfolio that includes City Walk, La Mer, Bluewaters Island and the Ain Dubai observation wheel, Port de La Mer, Al Seef, Dubai Design District and the ultra-prime Jumeirah Bay Island (home to the Bulgari Resort & Residences).
That track record is a genuine differentiator against the newer entrants in this comparison. Aldar (Athlon) and Majid Al Futtaim (Ghaf Woods) are both large, established Gulf developers but are newer to large-scale Dubai residential delivery specifically; Sobha has a long UAE construction pedigree but a shorter track record with forest-themed masterplanning. Meraas, by contrast, has already delivered and operated several of Dubai's most recognisable lifestyle destinations — a relevant data point when weighing execution risk on a still-under-construction community, even one that is already sold out.
Is The Acres a Good Investment in 2026?
The investment case for The Acres in 2026 is different from the case for a still-launching community, precisely because there is no launch discount left to capture — every buyer today is paying a resale price that already reflects roughly two years of construction progress and modest capital appreciation. The relevant questions shift from "will this sell out" to three more concrete ones: is the resale premium reasonable given construction progress, does the payment schedule you inherit from the assignor still make financial sense, and does the community's amenity set (lagoons, schools, retail) look likely to be genuinely complete by the phase's stated handover window.
A family comparing a 4-bedroom resale villa at The Acres (asking around AED 7 million, handover expected 2027–2028) against a ready 4-bedroom villa in neighbouring Arabian Ranches works through two different trade-offs. The Acres buyer pays a lower per-sq-ft price today, gains access to new-build lagoons and gardens once complete, but carries construction-completion risk and up to roughly two more years before move-in — plus whatever remaining instalments sit on the assigned payment schedule. The Arabian Ranches buyer pays a mature-market premium but moves in immediately, into a community with two decades of established schools, retail and resale liquidity. Neither answer is universally correct; it depends on whether the buyer values immediate occupancy more than the newer amenity set and lower entry price per sq ft. Comparing actual listings in both communities — rather than headline averages — is the only way to make this decision with real numbers.
For investors rather than end-users, the calculation leans more heavily on rental comparables once the community is delivered — data that does not yet exist in meaningful volume for The Acres specifically, since occupancy has not begun. Until post-handover rental data accumulates, model any yield assumption conservatively against comparable standalone-villa product in neighbouring Arabian Ranches and Dubai Hills Estate rather than assuming The Acres will command a premium purely on its lagoon design.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Acres by Meraas?
The Acres is a standalone villa community developed by Meraas in Dubailand, near Arabian Ranches. It comprises two collections — Acres Villas (3–5 bedrooms) and Acres Estates (5–7 bedrooms) — built around swimmable lagoons, seven themed gardens and a green pedestrian corridor called the Halo Loop Park. It launched in January 2024.
How much do villas cost at The Acres in 2026?
Original launch prices started at AED 5.09 million for 3-bedroom villas, rising to around AED 20 million for the largest 7-bedroom estate mansions. Because the developer has sold out, 2026 buyers are working from resale asking prices, which per Bayut's area guide currently run from roughly AED 5.5 million (3-bedroom) to AED 19.5 million (6-bedroom Estates).
Is The Acres sold out, and can I still buy?
Yes, both Acres Villas and Acres Estates are sold out directly from Meraas. Buyers can still purchase through the resale market — Property Finder and Bayut list roughly 189 active resale listings across the community as of mid-2026 — but not through a fresh developer sale.
What is the payment plan for The Acres?
Meraas's payment structure is commonly summarised as a 65/35 split — roughly 65% paid during construction (including booking) and 35% on handover. Property Finder's listing details one specific version: 5% at sales launch, 60% during construction, and 35% on handover. Resale buyers should confirm the exact remaining schedule with the assignor, since resold off-plan contracts are often restructured.
When will The Acres be handed over?
There is no single date. Property Finder lists a main completion date of 15 February 2028, while Bayut's phase breakdown spreads handover from Q4 2027 (The Acres Estates) through Q1, Q2 and Q3 2028 for the remaining phases. Confirm the specific phase attached to any unit before buying.
What amenities does The Acres offer besides the lagoons?
Beyond the swimmable lagoons and floating decks, the masterplan includes seven themed gardens, a Community Clubhouse and Lagoon Clubhouse, an Adventure Park, a Ripe Market retail promenade, a primary school and kindergarten, a mosque, healthcare facilities, and roughly 28% of the total site reserved as open green space, per Meraas's official project pages.
How does The Acres compare with Athlon, Ghaf Woods and Sobha Elwood?
All four are new nature-themed communities in the Dubailand corridor. The Acres and Sobha Elwood are standalone-villa-only, while Athlon and Ghaf Woods also offer cheaper townhouse and apartment entry points. The Acres is the only one of the four already sold out from the developer; the others were still selling directly as of mid-2026. Each leans on a different green concept — lagoons, "active living" design, or forest density.
Where is The Acres located, and what's nearby?
The Acres sits in central Dubailand with direct access to Sheikh Zayed Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street and Emirates Road, bordering the established Arabian Ranches community. Per Meraas, it is around 10 minutes from Global Village and 5 minutes from the Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club.
Who is Meraas, and what is their track record?
Meraas is a Dubai-based master developer founded in 2007 and now a subsidiary of Dubai Holding, chaired by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. It has delivered more than 80 million sq ft of Dubai real estate, including City Walk, La Mer, Bluewaters Island, Port de La Mer and Jumeirah Bay Island — a longer operating history in Dubai specifically than several of The Acres's Dubailand competitors.
Since Meraas has sold out its developer allocation, every 2026 purchase here is a resale decision — comparable payment-schedule and construction-progress questions apply whether you're looking at The Acres, Athlon, Ghaf Woods or Sobha Elwood. Inside the REC community, members compare live resale listings, assignor payment schedules and construction-progress photos across all four Dubailand launches in real time. If you're deciding between a sold-out lagoon community and a still-launching forest one, that on-the-ground comparison is worth more than any single project page.
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