A New Heart for Ajman: Inside Tiger Downtown’s 76-Building Lagoon-front Masterplan

This new mega-development from Tiger Properties is being described as a “new heart” for the emirate, and for once, that kind of language is not an exaggeration. With 76 buildings, a city-scale lagoon, and a full grid of amenities, it is less a project and more a new district on the map.

A city wrapped around a lagoon

At the core of Tiger Downtown Ajman is a simple but powerful idea: put the water at the center and build the city around it.

The master plan spans about 5 million square meters of built-up area, with 76 residential and mixed-use buildings arranged in rings around a central lagoon. Roughly 20 of those buildings sit directly on the lagoon edge, giving them uninterrupted water views, while the rest are set slightly back among parks and internal streets.

The lagoon itself is not a token pool. It stretches for around 375 meters, with a surface area of about 13,795 square meters, effectively acting as an inland waterfront. A dedicated promenade folds around it, with room for cafés, restaurants, and shaded seating. Bridges and elevated walkways connect both sides, letting residents walk or jog the length of the water without ever stepping onto a main road.

From above, the composition looks like a series of arcs radiating from the lagoon: waterfront towers closest to the edge, then mid-rise and high-rise buildings set in greenery, and finally a collar of streets and community facilities that tie the development back into the rest of Ajman.

A pedestrian-first, resort-style layout

The most striking difference between Tiger Downtown Ajman and many earlier communities in Ajman is how much of it has been given over to people on foot.

The plan emphasizes pedestrian promenades, jogging and cycling tracks, and landscaped corridors that slice through the development, linking homes to the lagoon, parks, and retail. Instead of driving from tower to tower, residents will be able to move along shaded paths and green routes, with the water almost always in sight.

Along these routes, the community layers a range of spaces that feel more like a resort than a typical residential cluster:

• Tree-lined walking promenades around the water
• Open lawns and picnic-friendly green pockets
• Seating decks that step down towards the lagoon
• Viewing terraces positioned to catch sunset reflections off the water

It is an environment designed to slow people down in the best sense, encouraging evening strolls, morning runs, and casual time outdoors rather than a quick dash from the car park to the lift lobby.

Twenty-five plus amenities, one integrated lifestyle

A big part of the resort feeling comes from the sheer number of amenities folded into the master plan. Tiger Downtown Ajman is being launched with more than 25 facilities, and this is one list that actually justifies the adjective “comprehensive”.

Facilities Tiger Properties highlights include:

• Crystal lagoon with waterfront promenade
• Infinity and leisure pools overlooking the water
• Fully equipped gyms and fitness centers
• Jogging and cycling tracks running through the community
• Outdoor cinema and amphitheater-style event spaces
• Kids’ play areas and family parks are spread across several zones
• BBQ areas and picnic lawns
• A multi-purpose dome for community events and indoor sports
• Boat docks, kayak zones, and lagoon adventures such as paddle rides
• Retail shops, cafés, and casual dining along key pedestrian routes

On top of that, there are spa-driven touches that move the experience firmly into resort territory: Jacuzzi, sauna and steam rooms, massage rooms, ice plunge pools, and dedicated wellness zones are all mentioned as part of the premium facility set.

Orchid Towers – the first waterfront homes

Every master plan needs a first chapter. In Tiger Downtown, that role is played by Orchid Towers, the initial cluster of six residential buildings that line part of the lagoon.

These towers rise between 15 and 21 floors and sit on a shared podium that links them to the promenade, shops, and leisure spaces below. Homes here are fully furnished, which means residents step into finished interiors.

The unit mix reads like a catalogue of modern urban living:

• Compact studios for singles and frequent travelers
• One, two, and three-bedroom apartments for couples and families
• Larger two to four-bedroom duplexes with double-height spaces and terraces
• Signature six-bedroom penthouses positioned to make the most of the lagoon views

Inside, floor plans tend to favor open-plan living areas, generous glazing, and balconies. Many units are laid out to frame either the lagoon or internal parks, so the resort feeling continues once you are behind your own front door.

On the podium level, Orchid residents gain a private layer of facilities on top of the wider community offer, like an infinity pool looking over the lagoon, children’s splash areas, an open-air cinema, yoga studio, sauna and steam, massage rooms, gyms, and multipurpose halls.

In effect, residents have two worlds to choose from: the intimate amenities of their own cluster, and the broader bustle of the wider downtown outside.

A retail boulevard and active ground floors

Resort-style living is not just about pools and parks. It is also about what happens at street level.

Tiger Downtown Ajman has set aside a significant portion of its space for retail and commercial uses, with external analyses pointing to a retail allocation of around 77,000 square meters and commercial strips totaling roughly 41,000 square meters.

That footprint is not limited to a single mall. Instead, the plan calls for a retail boulevard that runs through the community, with shops, cafés, and services at the base of many buildings. Ground floors are designed to be active, with glass frontages, terraces, and outdoor seating, particularly along the lagoon promenade.

A day in the new heart of Ajman

To understand what Tiger Downtown Ajman is trying to achieve, it helps to imagine a single day lived entirely within its boundaries.

Morning starts with first light on the lagoon, the surface still calm. Some residents will lace up their running shoes and head out onto the jogging track, circling the water and cutting through parks before stopping at a café for breakfast. Others will take a shorter route along shaded pathways that lead to nurseries, community facilities, or the mosque.

During the heat of the day, life shifts indoors and upwards. Children drift between indoor play areas and shaded pool decks. Adults use the gyms, spa rooms, or multi-purpose dome. From certain podium terraces, you can look out over the lagoon and see kayaks moving slowly along the water.

Evening pulls people back to the promenade. Families walk the loop, stopping at food trucks or outdoor dining spots. Teenagers gather at the open-air cinema or amphitheater. Residents who have spent the day in Sharjah or Dubai return to a setting that feels very different from the busy highways they just left.

It is this rhythm that Tiger Properties is banking on, according to the CEO of Tiger Properties, Eng. Amer Waleed Al Zaabi, the company is focused on delivering projects that “elevate the residential experience and meet client aspirations”, and Tiger Downtown Ajman is clearly intended as a flagship example of that idea in Ajman.

More than a project, a new urban center

What makes Tiger Downtown Ajman stand out is not just its numbers, though those are impressive. It is the way the master plan tries to translate the feel of a waterfront resort into the structure of a city neighborhood.

A central lagoon instead of a single pool. Dozens of amenities instead of a basic checklist. Walkable promenades and green corridors instead of car-dominated streets. Fully furnished homes designed to make the most of the view rather than simply face a road.

Tiger Downtown Ajman, in the future, will not just be a new development. It will be the place many people picture when they think about the heart of modern Ajman.