Arada plans to unveil first Saudi project in Q1 2020

Sharjah-based real estate developer Arada is planning to launch an urban megaproject in Riyadh, similar to its Aljada development in Sharjah, UAE, in the first quarter of 2020, company CEO Ahmed AlKhoshaibi told Argaam in an exclusive interview.

“It is same as Aljada, but it's bigger,” he said, adding the mega project will combine entertainment, residential, commercial and sports components.

“It’s a complete city, and you will have everything in it at your doorstep. When we entered Sharjah, we lifted the game and the same thing we plan to do in Saudi,” he stated, without disclosing the cost of the project.

AlKhoshaibi said that Saudi citizens were looking for quality products at "accessible price points", which was “achievable if planned well”.

He emphasized that the government has been very supportive and has been pushing for more private sector companies to enter the market.

“That is one of the reasons which gave us even more encouragement to come [to Saudi] and we believe the project we are planning will be aligned with the Vision 2030,” the CEO said.

Currently,12 percent of Arada property buyers in its Sharjah projects are from Saudi Arabia.

“There aren't any real estate companies or developers like Arada in Saudi Arabia. So when they saw the quality that we have, we saw a lot of push from Saudi coming towards Sharjah,” said Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal, vice-chairman, Arada.

The developer expects the number of Saudi buyers to increase after it opens its first sales office in Riyadh in December.

“We expect the percentage to go up to 20 to 30 percent next year for our Sharjah projects,” AlKhoshaibi said.

Write to Parag Deulgaonkar at parag.d@argaamplus.com