Saudi Developer Plans $300M Push Into U.S. Luxury Developments
A Saudi developer partnering with The Trump Organization on developments in the Middle East plans to invest $300M in luxury U.S. real estate projects by year's end.
Dar Global, the international arm of Saudi Arabia's Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Co., announced it is seeking partnerships to build condos in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and other key U.S. markets.
Executives at the Saudi firm have been meeting with top real estate developers in the U.S., CEO Ziad El Chaar told Reuters, but he declined to name any prospective partners.
Along with its equity, Dar Global plans to raise debt from the U.S. and abroad to finance projects, El Chaar told Reuters. International buyers will be a key target market for Dar Global’s U.S. projects, but El Chaar said the company aims to sell less than half the units at its projects to domestic buyers.
Dar Global’s parent company is one of Saudi Arabia’s largest development firms by market value and has a record spanning decades. The international luxury condo arm of the business was created in 2017 and went public on the London Stock Exchange in February with a valuation around $600M. The stock has been relatively flat since trading began.
“We understand the value of joint ventures to expand internationally, and they need development agreements under international laws and a structure that facilitates institutional funding,” El Chaar said in a statement when Dar Global went public.
A Dar Global representative wasn't immediately reachable for comment.
Last month, Dar Global announced a partnership with Aston Martin on beachfront condos in the United Arab Emirates and partnered with Lamborghini last June to announce Tierra Viva, a collection of 53 villas near Marbella, Spain.
The company also has several deals with former President Donald Trump’s real estate company. The same day Dar Global announced its $300M U.S. investment, it also unveiled its plans for Trump International Oman, a 140-key hotel set to open in late 2028. It was first announced in November 2022.
On Monday, Dar Global announced another partnership with The Trump Organization, this time for a yet-to-be-unveiled property in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“We are thrilled to expand our footprint in the Middle East and bring the Trump standard of luxury to the region through our long-standing relationship with Dar Global,” Eric Trump, vice president of The Trump Organization, said in a statement.
Dar Global has projects spanning five countries, nearly all of which are under development. Its footprint outside of the Middle East is limited to Spain, where it has two projects underway, and London, where it has a luxury five-bedroom apartment available for lease and two other short-term rental projects in the pipeline, according to its website.
Its Middle East projects include the Aston Martin- and Trump-branded projects and a Marriott Residences in Muscat, Oman, and a W Residences in Dubai.
Dar Global was 88% owned by its parent company when it began trading in February, but El Chaar said when it went public that more shares would end up in the public market as the firm grew.
“I am hoping that once we have stable growth, our mother company will consider selling a bigger portion of Dar Global,” he said in a statement.
