Bloom Holding CEO Carlos Wakim: Building Communities That Last

Abu Dhabi's real estate market is setting records. Transactions in the emirate reached AED117 billion in the first half of 2026, and foreign direct investment over the same six months exceeded the full-year 2025 total. Bloom Holding chief executive Carlos Wakim argues that is precisely when a developer should think hardest about what lasts.

Wakim has run Bloom since 2021, after more than two decades in regional property with senior roles at AMAALA, TDIC, Emaar Properties and Zabeel Properties. His mandate now covers a group that reaches beyond homes into education, hospitality, landscaping and facilities management. Bloom operates as a master developer, and Wakim says its job is to create places that still function decades after the last key is handed over.

The company calls this Curated Community Living. In practice, it means combining housing with schools, retail, wellness services, parks and public spaces, so residents do not have to leave the neighbourhood for everyday needs. Bloom also stays involved after delivery: it runs much of the maintenance, landscaping and community management itself, protecting asset values and letting the developer respond as needs change.

Bloom Living in Zayed City is the clearest example. The flagship community spans 2.2 million square metres and is planned for more than 4,500 homes. Its Mediterranean-Andalusian design is split into neighbourhoods named for Spanish towns, connected by a central lake, trails, parks, schools and places of worship. More than 96 per cent of homes released so far have sold.

The civic side of the strategy is Al Metlaa, developed with the Abu Dhabi Housing Authority and the Abu Dhabi Projects and Infrastructure Centre. Aimed at Emirati families, it is designed to support national housing priorities while reflecting local culture and identity.

Wakim attributes the market's strength to deliberate governance. Infrastructure, real estate, economic policy and social development are aligned, and public and private sectors work within transparent frameworks. That consistency lets residents and investors plan for years. Resilience, he argues, only shows in a downturn, and Abu Dhabi's demand is anchored by end users as well as long-term capital.

Growth at Bloom is timed to real demand, with infrastructure and services evolving alongside homes. Before committing, the group asks how a project will function five, ten or twenty years on. Delivering the first phase of Bloom Living ahead of schedule, Wakim says, is proof that speed and quality can coexist.

Buyer expectations have changed, but Wakim says the guiding principle has not: start with the community, not the individual home. Today's residents want convenience, wellbeing and belonging. That has led Bloom to plan for different generations and family structures. UAE nationals account for more than half of buyers, with international clients making up the rest.

Investors respond to proof rather than promise, he says, and trust is built at each milestone and after handover. Resident satisfaction and investor returns eventually become the same thing, because a community people want to live in holds its value.

Wakim expects the next decade to favour fully integrated communities, walkable public space and homes that adapt to changing households. Digital platforms are already part of Bloom's operation, and capital is becoming more selective. Because Bloom keeps education, hospitality and maintenance under one structure, operational lessons feed directly into new designs.

Success, by his measure, is not the number of homes delivered. It is whether a community still works for the people living there decades later.