Arada has announced its first move into Syria, signing a joint venture with the state-owned Syrian Sovereign Fund to develop a major new city on a four million square metre site west of Damascus. The deal makes the UAE developer one of the first from the country to enter Syria since the start of its national reconstruction period.
The project, located in an area known as New Damascus near the Mezzeh district, carries an estimated gross development value of $7 billion (AED25.7 billion).
“Syria is at a pivotal moment in its history, and the scale of the opportunity to rebuild and invest in its future is significant. Arada has spent nearly a decade delivering high-quality communities at scale, across multiple markets and in complex environments. Working with the Syrian Sovereign Fund, our organisation is uniquely well-placed to bring that experience to bear here, creating jobs, developing local skills, supporting Syrian businesses and contributing to the local economy. Arada’s success has been shaped by our willingness to make long term investments where others might hesitate with partners who share our vision to create genuine communities,” HRH Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal, Executive Vice Chairman of Arada said in a statement.
“Syria welcomes businesses and companies from around the world, and this strategic partnership with Arada is a powerful demonstration of what that means in practice. The Syrian Sovereign Fund’s mandate is to attract world-class investment that creates lasting value for the Syrian people, and we believe that this project represents exactly that. We’re grateful to Arada for their partnership and we look forward to working together to deliver projects that reflect the ambition and resilience of the Syrian people,” Mohammed Al Khayyat, Board Member and Chief Executive Officer of the Real Estate Development Sector at the Syrian Sovereign Fund added.
Sitting on a plateau roughly ten minutes from Damascus city centre and 25 minutes from Damascus International Airport, the development will include 11,000 homes across apartments, villas, townhouses and branded residences, 500 hotel rooms, 1,000 serviced apartments, a 300-bed hospital, education facilities for 5,000 students, office and retail space, government service buildings and a 700,000 square metre public park.
Arada and the Syrian Sovereign Fund will jointly develop the masterplan in consultation with Syrian government authorities, with the brief to align the project with the country’s reconstruction priorities. Both parties are also working to identify additional development sites across Syria.
The agreement was signed at the Syrian Sovereign Fund’s headquarters in Damascus by Arada Group CEO Ahmed Alkhoshaibi and Mohammed Al Khayyat, Board Member and CEO of the Real Estate Development Sector at the Syrian Sovereign Fund. Alkhoshaibi also met with President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the People’s Palace during the visit.
The Syria project adds to a pipeline that Arada values at $42 billion across four markets, with more than 66,000 homes spanning the UAE, the United Kingdom, Australia and now Syria. The company says the New Damascus development draws on the model used for its Aljada and Masaar communities in the UAE.
