Skyhills Astra

About Skyhills Astra

Skyhills Astra is the largest project HRE Development has undertaken: 1,696 apartments in a building with four basement levels, a ground floor and two retail levels, arranged along a podium more than 500 metres long with two residential tracks. It sits at Dubai Science Park, next to the delivered Skyhills Residences 1.

Two features distinguish it. The first is direct metro access — not proximity, but a connection to the network — which is rare for a Dubai Science Park address and changes the tenant pool from car-dependent to genuinely transit-served. The second is the AED 30 million pledge to Dubai Cares, HRE’s education charity partnership, with a certificate issued to every resident linked to the contribution. In a market of near-identical amenity lists, that is the thing you will remember about this building in five years.

What to weigh. First, scale. 1,696 units is a small town, and it cuts both ways: it funds real amenity and retail, and it means a lot of identical flats competing for tenants on the same day. Ask how many units of your type exist and what the developer’s leasing strategy is.

Second, the 42.06% construction figure against a Q4 2027 handover. That is a sensible pace, and unlike the other HRE projects there is no second, conflicting percentage on the page. Ask for the latest progress and the contractor’s programme.

Third, the price. At a portal-listed AED 750,000 entry, Astra is positioned just above Skyhills 3 in JVC and just below Skyhills 2 — which means the decision is about location and metro rather than price. Dubai Science Park rents are lower than JVC’s in some segments, so model the yield rather than assuming it.

Fourth, the podium. A 500-metre building means some units are a long walk from the lift core and the entrance. Ask where your unit sits along the podium, not just which floor it is on.

Compiled November 2026 from HRE Development’s Skyhills Astra page (1,696 units, 4B + G + 2 retail, the 500 m dual-track podium, direct metro access, Q4 2027, 42.06% construction, the AED 30m Dubai Cares pledge and resident certificates, amenities) and the listing portal’s record (price and payment plan).

Homes, sizes and price

HRE publishes the unit total and the building configuration but not a size schedule. The portal publishes the entry price and the payment plan.

With 1,696 units, the schedule matters more than the headline price. Ask for the count of each type, the size range within each, and where the cheapest unit sits on the podium — the lowest price usually means the longest walk or the least attractive outlook.

Direct metro access is the feature that should carry a rent premium over Skyhills 1 next door. Ask for the rent achieved in the delivered building and model Astra on that plus a transit premium you can justify, not one you hope for.

Price and payment plan

The portal records a 20% booking, 15% construction, 25% at handover and 40% post-handover structure — a 60/40 split in practice, weighted towards completion.

On AED 750,000, the reservation is roughly AED 150,000 and 40% of the price is paid after you get the keys. That is a comfortable structure for a 2027 handover, but it is a portal record and HRE has not published a plan for Astra on its own site. Confirm it in the sale and purchase agreement.

Amenities

The amenity programme is sized to 1,696 homes: pools and podium gardens along the 500-metre track, a gym and wellness suite, children’s play areas, retail and F&B at ground and podium level, and the direct metro link.

A building this long can support genuine neighbourhood amenity — the retail levels are a small high street rather than a lobby kiosk — and that is worth something in Dubai Science Park, where there is little walkable retail today.

Ask what is confirmed versus planned on the retail levels, how the podium gardens are irrigated and maintained, and what the service charge per square foot is projected to be. On a 1,696-unit building the service charge pool is large, and so is the scope for it to rise.

Where it is

Skyhills Astra is at Dubai Science Park, Al Barsha South, beside the delivered Skyhills Residences 1 and within reach of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Al Khail Road and Hessa Street.

The differentiator is the direct metro connection. Dubai Science Park has been a car-first district, and a station link changes who will rent here: people working in the Marina, JLT, Internet City or Downtown who do not want a car. That is a materially larger tenant pool than the district has had.

The trade-off is that the immediate surroundings are still business-park in character — laboratories, offices, low-rise commercial — and the lifestyle amenity is inside the building rather than on the street. If you want a walkable high street, this is not it; if you want a commute without a car, few Dubai Science Park addresses can offer it.

At a glance

• 1,696 apartments — HRE’s largest project.
• Four basement levels, ground floor and two retail levels.
• A podium more than 500 metres long with two residential tracks.
• Direct metro access, not just proximity.
• 42.06% built, Q4 2027 handover.
• Portal-listed from AED 750,000, with 40% payable post-handover.
• AED 30 million committed to Dubai Cares, with a certificate per resident.

What we verify before you reserve

• The unit schedule: count, size and price by type.
• Where your unit sits along the 500-metre podium.
• The current construction percentage and the handover date.
• Confirmed versus planned retail and F&B tenants.
• The service charge projection per square foot.
• The payment plan in the sale and purchase agreement.
• How the Dubai Cares certificate is issued and what it entitles the resident to.
• Rents achieved at the delivered Skyhills Residences 1 next door.