In Dubai, A 90-Acre Swimming Pool Is The Next Big Thing In Real Estate Development

In Dubai, the unwritten rule is: If it doesnt exist in its natural form, dig, scrape or shape it until you have an amusement park-style copycat of -- or improvement on -- the real thing.

Soon, that rule will apply to a large manmade lagoon that has the same clarity as a swimming pool: In other words, a lake that nature might have formed if it had a board of directors.

As Dubai has made the leap from desert backwater to glittering metropolis, the Persian Gulf emirate has accrued some of the most prodigious and over-the-top works of modern engineering on Earth. To lure outsiders to a seemingly uninhabitable swath of Arabian sand required creating desirable amenities from scratch, including comfortable climates, on a micro scale. Along the way, Dubai has elevated the concept of the artificial environment to a new level.

There have been complications in this remastering of nature, including staggering energy shortages and tourists swimming amid raw sewage, but Dubai remains undaunted in its quest to become one of the worlds most cutting-edge luxury destinations.

The citys latest venture is a colossal, artificial lagoon, fed from brackish groundwater, that stretches across nearly 90 acres of desert. The huge water feature, which has a surface area equivalent to some 330 Olympic swimming pools, is the mainstay of a $7.1 billion development project in Mohammed Bin Rashid City, in the heart of Dubai, and, when complete, will be the largest manmade lagoon of its kind in the world.The first phase has been completed, and the full 90-acre project is expected to be done by 2020.

The company behind Dubais latest indulgence is Chile-based Crystal Lagoons, whose artificial lagoons have cropped up across Latin America and the Middle East and have just begun to make their way into the U.S. market. The concept is that beachfront property can be created that includes the uncomplicated comfort of a massive swimming pool -- but with fewer chemical additives, on a scale that enables residents and tourists to enjoy water sports like kayaking and even sailing.

The resort at San Alfonso del Mar in Chile. Crystal Lagoons

Not surprisingly, developers say the revenue potential is huge; promoting their projects is part of their job. But others in the industry say such carefully regulated manmade water features do hold the potential to be the next big thing in residential development, much as golf courses once were.

Developers are getting more sophisticated in how to deploy this as a business tool, Kevin Morgan, chief executive of Crystal Lagoons U.S. subsidiary, Crystal Lagoons USA Inc., told International Business Times.

Crystal Lagoons enormous water projects havemade headlines before for their dramatic appearance. Since it completed its first large lagoon project in Chile 17 years ago, Crystal Lagoons has worked on dozens of similar projects and has hundreds more in various stages of development, including one for a planned community in Florida called Tradition Florida where groundwater will be used to fill the lagoon. The latest Crystal Lagoon opened this year at a resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

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In Dubai, A 90-Acre Swimming Pool Is The Next Big Thing In Real Estate Development