One way for property developers to fight rising sea levels: Make sure it floats

Buoyant bovine farms and flotillas of hotels are part of a new trend in real estate — the floating kind.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a Finnish company reached a deal to build 16 hotels for the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament, in Qatar. The floatels will rest in the Persian Gulf.

They may sound odd, but the projects aren’t lost at sea

In fact, they make sense for cities that are already vulnerable to rising waters. Take Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, where 25% of the country is already below sea level.

• A developer is building a 54k sq.-ft. office building that will float in the city’s harbor. The building will house the climate-focused Global Center on Adaptation.
• The harbor also has a floating dairy farm that’s home to dozens of seaworthy cows.

Oil rigs have already proven that it’s possible for humans to build huge structures that withstand the aquatic elements. 

The biggest question still bobbing on the surface appears to be regulation, and how local governments will shape the rules if their residents want to set sail for good.