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Construction news, real estate, property, and infrastructure news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis on the construction market.
Construction news
Bank of China has issued the first green bonds focused on Belt and Road Initiative projects in the Middle East, listing them on Nasdaq Dubai. The $770 million listing by one of China’s largest state-owned banks raises the total value of debt listed on Nasdaq Dubai to nearly $120 billion. The green notes have simultaneously […]
Ras Al Khaimah’s tourism and infrastructure projects, including the $3.9 billion Wynn Al Marjan Island resort, could strengthen the emirate’s growth prospects over the next two to three years, S&P Global Ratings said on Monday. S&P now rates RAK’s long-term outlook as “positive”, upgrading it from “stable”. The ratings agency is also forecasting that RAK’s […]
Saudi inflation eased to 1.7 percent in September, from 2 percent the previous month, but the booming real estate sector continued to push up prices. Housing rents rose 9.8 percent, including a 19.8 percent increase in apartment rents, forming “the main driver of the inflation rate in September 2023”, the General Authority for Statistics said. […]
Work has commenced on the Mukaab, a 400 metre tall cube structure in Riyadh. PIF-backed New Murabba Development Company (NMDC), the developer, has awarded the contract for the first excavation phase to construct the basement structures underneath the Mukaab and surrounding podiums to China Harbour Engineering Company. The work is part of the backfilling and […]
Developers in the Middle East are setting “unrealistic” timelines for building projects, industry experts have warned, as the region is named among the worst in the world for construction delays. Construction overruns added 82 percent to schedules in the region, well up on the global average of just over 67 percent, according to the 2023 […]
Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion giga-project Neom has unveiled plans for a sustainable tourism destination built between 400-metre-high mountains. Leyja will have just 120 rooms and suites, split equally with 40 keys each in three resorts, the company said in a statement. The eco-friendly development will spread from the Gulf of Aqaba coast and move inland […]
Rua Al Madinah Holding, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) subsidiary in charge of the touristic and cultural development of Medina, has invited companies to bid for contracts to build 5,000 hotel rooms. Construction of the mega mixed-use scheme is due to start soon. Rua Al Madinah expects to welcome its first guests in 2026. […]
Abha International Airport in the south-west of Saudi Arabia is to expand to more than six times its current size. The plans, revealed this week by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, will see the terminal area of the airport increased to 65,000 square metres. It includes the construction of passenger boarding bridges, self-service facilities and […]
Investor appetite for data centres in the Middle East is soaring as the region, particularly the Gulf, accelerates its digital transformation. Experts say they are seeing increased levels of investment and interest from international operators, who are looking to capitalise on the region’s growing need for data processing and storage. Earlier this year the Saudi […]
Dubai has become a second-home paradise for the super-rich as the number of wealthy residents in the emirate continues to soar. The city boasts more than 500 centi-millionaire second-home owners. It features ahead of locations such as Palm Beach and West Palm Beach in the US, Sydney, Nice and Napa, according to the latest wealth […]
Gulf backers have contributed over 80 percent towards a British investment fund targeting distressed commercial property sales in the UK. Greenridge Investment Management Ltd has just closed the first round of its $190 million Greenridge Opportunities fund and has surpassed its first capital raise target by 46 percent. Strong participation from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait […]
Hundreds of plots of land from the long-delayed Dubai real estate master project Falconcity have been auctioned off, at a discount of more than a billion dirhams on the initial asking price. Falconcity of Wonders, an AED5.5 billion ($1.5 billion) master development launched in 2005 during Dubai’s property boom, had promised buyers views of replica […]
The most expensive villa in Abu Dhabi has been listed for sale as the off-plan property market in the UAE capital continues to witness strong growth. The AED98 million ($26.7 million) villa, located in the Ohana by the Sea coastal development between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, is scheduled to be handed over in the fourth […]
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) have launched a new company to deliver electric vehicle (EV) fast-charging infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi sovereign fund will own 75 percent of the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Company, while the kingdom’s utility provider will hold the remaining 25 percent stake. The new company plans to establish […]
UAE real estate developer Arada has awarded two contracts worth AED700 million ($190 million) to build all 294 upscale houses at its first Dubai project in Jumeirah Golf Estates. Jouri Hills covers an area of more than 40 million square feet of Jumeirah Golf Estates, which houses two international golf courses. Intermass, a UAE-based contractor […]
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has launched the Al Balad Development Company to develop Jeddah’s historic Al Balad district as the kingdom targets 150 million visitors by 2030. The transformation will lead to the creation of Jeddah as an economic hub and a global cultural and heritage destination. BDC will focus on improving the district’s […]
More needs to be built – and quickly – if the emirate is not to become a victim of its own success
We need to focus on mitigating the risks and adapting
No final decision has been taken on construction the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, despite reports that building work on the controversial project had restarted. The planned skyscraper, which was set to be the tallest building in the world, was announced in 2009 by Kingdom Holding. Work stopped in 2017, however, after only a few […]
Oil economies have to live with the consequences of the swings of global demand
Global macro forces suggest an overheated real estate sector, reminiscent of 2008's tipping points
Damac Properties has awarded two contracts worth AED588 million ($160 million) for Damac Hills, the Dubai developer’s flagship master development. The first contract, valued at AED341 million, is for the main works of the Gems Estates cluster – a luxurious collection of high-end mansions branded by Swiss jeweller de Grisogono, with home interiors branded by […]
