Parisian Hôtel Particulier Revamped Into Dream Home
Alexandre de Betak and his wife are focusing on their most personal project yet.
13 min
Alexandre de Betak, the 52-year-old designer behind some of the most viral fashion shows of the past 25 years, has staged runway spectacles in audacious locales. Through his Bureau Betak creative agency, he’s conceptualised shows from Dior runways in Moscow’s Red Square and under an 18-metre mountain of blue delphiniums custom built in the courtyard of the Louvre to a blue diamond catwalk inserted for Tiffany into Beijing’s Forbidden City.
After a day at the office conjuring another rapidly vanishing show for a client, de Betak wants nothing more than to design space for his family’s personal use. “I’ve spent my life designing for others,” he says, “so in a way designing for us and designing permanent homes is incredibly relaxing, just by the nature of being the same yet the opposite of what I do every day.”
By the time he finished his last home design project in 2016, a playful loft in downtown New York with a stripper pole in a hidden party room, he was already at work on a new place to live, a fixer-upper across the Atlantic on the Left Bank of the Seine.
Four years ago, he began to shift his centre
\of gravity to Paris, returning to the city he grew up in after more than two decades based primarily in New York. (Bureau Betak has offices in both cities, along with Shanghai and Los Angeles.) Alex arrived with his partner in life, his pregnant wife, Sofía, the 36-year-old Argentine creative director, graphic designer and boho-chic style influencer known to her friends and 350,000-plus Instagram followers as Chufy (a childhood nickname). They spent their first 18 months in the city glamping indoors, squatting, essentially, in the beautiful ruin that would become their new home, former offices stripped to the bone—four separate units on three floors of a 17th-century hôtel particulier. “We were sleeping with six hot-water bottles,” says Sofía. “We would get pieces of ceiling just falling on us, holes in the wall.” Adds Alex: “We were cooking in the fireplace, heating by the fireplace. It was very, very fun.”
While inhabiting the space, Alex mapped out plans for what it might soon become, imagining the sculptural staircase, in white gesso, that would wind down through three floors, the secret party room—all of his homes have one—he’d excavate in the basement. “I have to say it was great to design it from the inside,” he says. After Airbnb-hopping during the two years of construction, early last year, Alex, Sofía and their toddler daughter, Sakura, finally moved into the finished space.
Though Alex and Sofía were on the road constantly pre-pandemic, individually and as a unit, they filled their free time—there was rarely much of it—travelling for pleasure, too. Sofía grew up travelling—her mother ran a high-end travel agency in Buenos Aires. The couple named Sakura for the cherry blossoms that were blooming on a trip to Kyoto when they found out they were expecting a girl.
They were just back from a family vacation in Myanmar, and recently moved into their new home, when the first pandemic lockdowns started in autumn of last year. Alex was bedridden in those first uncertain weeks. He thinks it was Covid-19, though reliable tests were hard to come by back then. “I mean, we were lucky—we were in luxury confinement,” says Sofía, “but most people had it really, really tough.”
After spring Fashion Week in Paris wrapped on March 4, Bureau Betak saw its planned roster of shows heading into the summer vanish overnight. “Everything got cancelled,” says Alex.
Sofía launched Chufy, her eponymous line of travel-themed women’s clothing, in 2017, each collection inspired by a new destination, from the Pampas of Argentina to the savannas of Kenya. At the start of the pandemic, her business also came to a halt as the factory in India producing her flouncy blouses and flowy dresses shuttered.
Feeling restless stuck at home, she organized a charity auction online for Doctors Without Borders in April of last year, enlisting her friends to donate objects, expertise and experiences: a private polo class from Nacho Figueras, an online consulting session with Colette founder Sarah Andelman, a signed tennis racket from Maria Sharapova. Getting the auction going “kind of helped me get out of the darker cloud,” she says.
Alex is often dubbed the Fellini of fashion. In a good year, when his business hasn’t been crippled by a global pandemic, Bureau Betak might stage as many as 100 productions, working with young designers and veterans, avant-garde and legacy brands, on blowout presentations and smaller, more cerebral shows. “He’s always thinking about how to make it feel special; it doesn’t always mean it has to be the biggest and the brashest…not just the big extravaganza, although he is great at doing that; you could also have an intimate show,” says Michael Kors, one of Alex’s earliest clients, going back to the mid-’90s when he first set up shop in New York.
In spring of last year, as his health and the weather in Paris both improved, Alex got back to work from a laptop by a window with a view of the Seine. He began to devise a path forward for clients eager to start showing again. “After a couple of months you realize it’s going to be there for a while,” Alex says of the pandemic. “That’s when we started to really rethink the calendars and the format and everything.”
He had plenty of tools in his arsenal ready to go, having launched a creative agency, Bureau Future, a few years earlier, focused on the digital future of the live fashion show. “I believed for a long time that in order to give those great, live, in-person shows a reason to continue to exist, we needed to augment them digitally better, to film them better, to design them with the filming in mind and to transmit that better when we stream them,” he says. “And then, obviously, with Covid we accelerated the process quite drastically.”
Though many designers decided not to show at all last year, a few signed on for virtual shows, filmed with no audience. In July, French label Jacquemus, taking advantage of a moment of relaxed restrictions, opted to invite spectators to its live show outside Paris, shuttling 110 socially distanced VIPs to the winding catwalk Bureau Betak cut through a wheat field. “We bet together that we could do a show with a live audience,” says Alex. “We were very lucky. We caught a very small window.”
Filmed or live-streamed shows with no editors or influencers in attendance followed for Dior in Puglia, for Fendi in Milan and for Gabriela Hearst in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. As France began to open back up last summer, Sofía also got her business going again. From her home office in the apartment’s sun-drenched winter garden, with ivy climbing up lattice walls, she began sketching ideas for a new Chufy collection, inspired by her paternal grandparents’ Romanian heritage. “I just wanted to go through memories, old things from my grandparents; I travelled introspectively,” she says.
Evenings were spent at home, the family gathered around a custom-built kitchen island, Alex at the stove working through his rotation of pastas (“variations of vongole, bottarga and pesto,” as Sofía describes them). His two sons, Amaël, 20, and Aidyn, 17, from an earlier relationship with actress and model Audrey Marnay, would drop in from their mom’s place for a week at a time. At lunch there were picnics outside in the courtyard garden, chatting, socially distanced, with new neighbours in the hôtel particulier.
There were plenty of reminders, throughout the apartment, of Alex and Sofía’s old travelling life, mismatched accents—a pair of Moroccan candelabras here, a black lacquered Burmese pot there—brought home in suitcases or picked up online in hotel rooms in bleary-eyed bidding sprees.
“I can be in Shanghai or Tokyo and I’m jet-lagged and I’m online at an auction that’s in Italy or Eastern Europe and I’ll buy a piece from Japan,” says Alex. “I kind of see no boundaries.”
The building’s last tenants, offices of the museum of the Paris hospital system, stripped it of its historic character. As he planned his gut renovation, Alex imagined the space as it might have been when aristocrats lived there. He laid down new flooring to bring the place back in time, installing black-and-white pierre de Bourgogne stone on the ground floor, wooden parquet de Versailles upstairs above that. A golden hall of mirrors en route to his daughter’s bedroom brought a more theatrical 17th-century touch.
He filled the place with an eclectic mix of contemporary furniture and flea market antiques, pieces of Mario Bellini’s modular Camaleonda sofa across from a leopard-print chair from the 1940s. The seats in the living room, including his favourite Minotaure armchair from Pierre Augustin Rose by the window, were all reupholstered in the same rough-textured white fabric. Next to the master bedroom, antique panels on a Japanese theme, picked up at the Paul Bert Serpette market on the edge of Paris, became the closet doors inside a new dressing room. Much of the contents—mostly in monochrome black and white—were acquired with the new place in mind, after Alex auctioned off almost everything from his last Paris apartment back in 2018: 188 lots of kinetic art, toy robots and Star Wars memorabilia, among other collecting obsessions. “It was a brand-new time in our life,” he says. “I wanted to start from scratch.”
Though there’s some gravitas to the new space—“I wanted to do something very feminine and very romantic in a way and a lot softer than what I used to have,” says Alex—there’s still plenty of his signature whimsy throughout.
The basement nightclub space, hidden behind a mirror, features a night-sky mural inspired by 17th-century star maps with each family member’s zodiac constellation. (They’ve been watching movies there during the pandemic.) Upstairs, an archangel painting in the master bedroom opens into a projection TV screen. A bookcase in the library opens to reveal a secret passage down to the street. “We always have secret doors and secret escapes in every place we design,” he says. “Don’t ask me why.”
Alex lined the walls in his daughter’s bedroom in a classic Japanese motif, a collage of his own creation featuring bamboo, cherry blossom trees and kimono-clad figures that, upon close inspection, turn out to be miniature versions of her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings. The French fabric firm Pierre Frey has added the design to their 2022 wallpaper collection, launching in January.
By midsummer of last year, the de Betaks had traded the city for their vacation home by the sea, a villa on Mallorca, which was built and completed by Alex in 2010. And they spent a few weeks of their summer holiday visiting friends on the island of Panarea, north of Sicily. Over an alfresco meal there, Sofía came up with an idea for another Chufy collection, a collaboration with André Saraiva, the graffiti artist known as Mr. A, who sat beside her sketching doodles inspired by their time together in the Aeolian Islands. “I [drew] a little volcano, a pasta—Alex is the king of the pasta with bottarga, so I did a pasta with bottarga—did all those little things we enjoyed during our summer,” says Saraiva, who was one of three best men at Alex and Sofía’s weeklong wedding in Patagonia in 2014. This summer Chufy debuts a capsule collection of caftan dresses featuring those Mr. A sketches on Sofía’s Italian island–inspired prints.
Saraiva, one of Alex’s oldest friends, says he has been to every home he’s designed. “I’m an expert on Betak design,” he says. “[Alex] has got a great sense of décor and space that designers have, but he has something that I really appreciate…there are always details that come from playing around, not everything is serious. He’s a big fan of Star Wars. There’s always little details that remind me of the Star Wars saga—in the new place, the blacks, the whites, the round stairs.”
Alex, who has no formal design training, was just 17 and still finishing high school when he fell into fashion in 1986. That year, on a family trip to Spain, he met a young clothing designer named Sybilla Sorondo who’d been building a cult following from her atelier in Madrid. Taken by her edgy work and the freewheeling scene around her, and by the creative spirit of La Movida that gripped Madrid in the post-Franco years, he found himself drawn to the city and into Sorondo’s orbit.
“At that time my workshop was a place where people would hang out; there was lots of movement,” recalls Sorondo. “All of a sudden [Alex] was the kid who was always there—‘Oh, he’s still here.’ ”
Eventually, Alex got a few fashion editors in Paris to take a look at Sorondo’s pleated frocks. “And that’s how my international expansion started,” she says. He became her official press agent and art director while still studying for his baccalaureate exam. They travelled to Tokyo and Milan together. And after graduation he launched Bureau Betak, still ill-defined as an enterprise, out of a home office, with Sorondo’s eponymous line, Sybilla, as its first official client. He added a Japanese modelling agency, L’Homme et La Femme, to his roster, scouting talent for them in Paris and also hunting for classic cars for the agency’s owner. “There was no name to a lot of what I was doing back then,” he says. The big bash Alex organized for the launch of Sorondo’s Paris boutique in 1991, featuring jugglers, acrobats and a live orchestra along with models showcasing the clothes, set the stage for his future fashion show work.
Shortly afterward Sorondo took a long break from the fashion world to focus on raising a family. Alex decided to move to New York.
With his first clients there, he started to challenge the status quo. In an early show under the tents at Bryant Park he suspended designer John Bartlett in a hammock above the catwalk, instead of dangling the brand logo as everyone else did. “Many creative decisions came to me spontaneously like that,” says Alex.
Very quickly he began to organize shows in offbeat locales, ramping up the spectacle in the process. His first collaboration with Kors, staged in a cavernous loft space in SoHo, featured a travel theme. “We had a train that took models through the Swiss Alps, we had a helicopter landing,” recalls Kors. “It was a really interesting way to present it, to get the feeling behind the collection, rather than doing the traditional fashion show.”
“I mean, nothing is impossible,” says Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, who staged her first show with Bureau Betak just as her and her sister Kate’s label took off in 2007, of de Betak’s approach. “You can have an idea and then you translate it into a live theatrical experience.”
Many of Alex’s working relationships with designers have endured for decades, following the careers of John Galliano, Raf Simons and Kors, among others. In April Kors unveiled his 40th-anniversary show online, a filmed tribute to Broadway, directed by Alex, in New York’s theatre district. “I try to always have very long and deep relationships,” he says.
In the late ’90s, as Alex’s career was taking off in New York, in Buenos Aires his future wife, Sofía Sanchez Barrenechea, was getting an early start in the fashion world. In 1999, when she was 14 years old, Sofía was approached by a modelling scout while in church for her confirmation. Cast in a national campaign for John L. Cook, a big Argentine clothing brand, she was soon on billboards and shopping bags across the country.
“My picture was everywhere,” she says. “It was quite a shock—I mean, an ego boost but also very hard to handle.”
Sofía went on to study graphic design at the University of Palermo in Buenos Aires before moving to New York on an IMG Models visa in 2008. In between the occasional shoot, she pursued a career in design, working with beauty clients at branding agency Lloyd & Co. Sofía was back in Buenos Aires for the winter holidays in 2009 when Alex showed up at her family home—invited by her older sister, Lucia, a fashion journalist he knew from Paris. Though Alex’s estranged father, whom he didn’t grow up with, is from Argentina, this was his first time in the country.
“He spent Christmas with my family even before we started dating,” says Sofía. “I think first he liked the family and there was only one sister single, and it was lucky me.” They began seeing each other back in New York and were married five years later, surrounded by fashion royalty, the bride in Valentino couture, custom-embroidered in crystal and pearls.
This past March, as Paris prepared to go on lockdown again, Alex got his first AstraZeneca shot. Despite the slow vaccine rollout and surging virus cases in Europe, tentative plans were underway for bringing live audiences back to runway shows.
“Until the last minute everything I’m designing and everything I’m thinking of now has a plan B, with no audience, of course,” he says.
Even when the world finally opens back up, Alex would prefer that fashion didn’t fully return to its pre-pandemic ways. Early last year, just weeks before international borders began closing, Bureau Betak announced a new sustainability pledge, “Ten Commandments” intended to transform the business from the inside, vowing to reuse materials, sort and recycle, reduce nonessential flying and minimize fossil-fuel use.
“I’ve dedicated most of my life to ephemeral events that spend a lot of energy, a lot of carbon and a lot of money for a very short time and for, I hate to say, a useless topic, which is helping luxury brands sell more product,” says Alex. “So, considering all of this, it’s been forever that I’ve wanted to try to use what I can, which is basically the influence we have over our clients and their brands…to create a strong sustainability program within Bureau Betak and use it as a platform.”
And after a year mostly confined to his new Paris apartment, Alex is already thinking about his family’s next permanent home-design project—maybe a country house outside the city or a vacation spot in Patagonia. “I already have a design in mind for Patagonia,” he says.
Reprinted by permission of WSJ. Magazine. Copyright 2021 Dow Jones & Company. Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Original date of publication: May 29, 2021
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Saudi Arabia’s Alramz Real Estate has secured $133 million in Shariah-compliant credit facilities from Al Rajhi Bank to support property acquisitions, development and expansion.
Dubai’s freehold rental market gained momentum in August, with 39,645 contracts registered, up 3.79% month-on-month, while property sales reached AED28.6 billion.
Riyadh households are spending less of their income on rent, with the share falling to around 15% following measures to balance the capital’s property market.
More than 10,000 homes, an expansive central park and a mix of hospitality, retail and wellness facilities will form Azizi Developments’ first master-planned community in the emirate.
2 min
Sharjah is set to receive one of its largest new residential communities, with Azizi Developments unveiling plans for a US$8.1 billion master-planned precinct containing more than 10,000 homes.
Named Azizi Florence, the freehold development will comprise 1,130 villas, more than 6,000 townhouses and 3,500 apartments. Three-bedroom townhouses will start from US$515,000, with an indicative rate of US$231 per square foot of saleable space.
The project marks the Dubai-based developer’s first move into Sharjah, expanding a portfolio that includes the planned Burj Azizi skyscraper and the Azizi Venice community in Dubai.
A park at the heart of the community
Rather than treating landscaping as an afterthought, Azizi Florence will be organised around a 1.7 million sq ft central park.
The wider precinct is planned as a self-contained neighbourhood combining homes with retail, hospitality, education, leisure and wellness facilities.
Six residential clusters will sit within the development, each with its own park, clubhouse, community centre and landscaped gardens. The approach reflects a broader shift across large Middle Eastern developments, where greenery, recreation and everyday convenience are increasingly central to the residential proposition.
The scale of Azizi Florence suggests it is intended to function as a neighbourhood rather than a collection of housing estates. Its mix of housing types should also give the project broader appeal, accommodating apartment buyers alongside families seeking townhouses or standalone villas.
Azizi expands beyond Dubai
Azizi Developments has delivered more than 45,000 homes to buyers from over 100 countries and says it has approximately 150,000 units under construction.
Much of its growth has been concentrated in Dubai, where its portfolio extends across Palm Jumeirah, Mohammed Bin Rashid City, Dubai South, Sheikh Zayed Road and Downtown Jebel Ali.
Its most prominent current project is Burj Azizi, which is intended to become the world’s second-tallest building. Azizi Florence represents a different type of undertaking: a low-rise, family-oriented community built around public space and daily amenity.
For company founder and chairman Mirwais Azizi, the Sharjah project also carries a personal connection. The emirate was his first home in the UAE more than three decades ago, adding a symbolic dimension to the developer’s expansion.
Sharjah’s residential ambitions grow
Although Dubai and Abu Dhabi have traditionally captured much of the international attention directed at the UAE property market, Sharjah has been steadily broadening its residential offering.
Large freehold communities such as Azizi Florence have the potential to attract both local families and international purchasers looking for comparatively accessible entry points into the Emirates’ property market.
At a starting price of US$515,000, the project’s three-bedroom townhouses will sit well below the cost of equivalent family homes in many of Dubai’s more established luxury communities.
The ultimate appeal, however, will depend on execution. At this scale, the quality of the public realm, connections between residential clusters and delivery of the promised supporting infrastructure will be as important as the homes themselves.
If those elements come together, Azizi Florence could help establish a new benchmark for large-scale residential development in Sharjah—and give buyers another option beyond the UAE’s better-known property markets.
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Two coming 2027 models – the first of the “Neue Klasse” cars coming to the U.S. early next year – have been revealed.
Ad-Dulayl Industrial Park & Development Zone is advancing a 386,852 sqm expansion in Jordan to attract local and international manufacturers, expand production capacity and strengthen the country’s position as a competitive export-oriented manufacturing hub.
2 min
Ad-Dulayl Industrial Park & Development Zone (IDMC), one of Jordan’s established industrial investment destinations, is advancing a major new expansion aimed at attracting local and international manufacturers seeking a competitive base for regional and global operations.
Located in Zarqa Governorate, approximately 30 kilometres from Amman, IDMC has developed into an important industrial hub hosting export-oriented manufacturers and investments from Jordan and several international markets.
The new Phase 3 expansion covers approximately 386,852 square metres and is being developed to accommodate a diverse range of industrial and supporting activities, including garments and textiles, light manufacturing, warehousing, logistics services, industrial services, supporting apparel industries, worker accommodation, and green infrastructure.
The expansion forms part of IDMC’s strategy to provide additional capacity for new industrial investments while supporting the growth and expansion of existing manufacturers operating within the development zone.
A Platform for Export-Oriented Manufacturing
As a designated Development Zone, IDMC offers an investment environment designed to support industrial operations through competitive incentives, infrastructure, investor services, and access to relevant government services.
Investors within IDMC can benefit from advantages including a competitive income tax framework, customs exemptions on eligible production inputs and equipment, foreign ownership provisions, and the ability to repatriate capital and profits in accordance with applicable Jordanian legislation.
Jordan also provides manufacturers with access to a broad network of international markets through its trade agreements and economic partnerships, positioning the country as a potential manufacturing and export base for companies targeting markets in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and other regions.
IDMC is also a Qualifying Industrial Zone (QIZ), further strengthening its positioning for export-oriented industries, particularly within the garments and textiles sector.
An Established Industrial Community
IDMC hosts a diverse industrial community, including manufacturers and investors from countries such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, alongside Jordanian and other international businesses.
The Development Zone provides investors with industrial land options as well as opportunities for customized industrial facilities, supported by infrastructure, security, logistics support and investor facilitation services.
On-site government services further support investors by facilitating procedures involving relevant authorities, helping create an integrated environment for establishing and operating industrial projects.
Expanding Jordan’s Industrial Investment Offering
Through Phase 3, IDMC aims to attract manufacturers seeking new production capacity in Jordan while also creating opportunities for existing investors to expand their operations.
The expansion is particularly focused on industries capable of generating employment, strengthening local value chains, increasing exports and contributing to Jordan’s position as a competitive manufacturing destination.
IDMC is currently engaging with potential investors, business associations, chambers of commerce, diplomatic missions and international industry organizations to introduce the new investment opportunities available within the Development Zone.
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Sustainable real estate is evolving beyond reducing environmental impact. R.Evolution highlights four shifts shaping regenerative development: integrating nature, prioritizing human health, embedding resource efficiency into design and creating adaptable buildings that deliver lasting value.
3 min
The way we think about sustainable buildings is changing. Buildings and construction account for around 32% of global energy consumption and 34% of global CO₂ emissions, making energy efficiency, lower emissions and responsible resource use important priorities for the real estate industry.
But reducing a building’s environmental impact is only part of the equation. The next question is whether buildings can actively contribute to the health of the people who live in them, the natural systems around them and the communities they serve.
This is the thinking behind regenerative real estate. Rather than focusing only on what a building consumes or avoids, regenerative development considers what it can give back; creating healthier living environments, supporting nature, using resources more intelligently and remaining resilient over time.
For R.Evolution, this approach is shaping how the next generation of residential developments is being conceived. Four shifts are helping to define the move from sustainable to regenerative real estate.
1. Nature is becoming part of how residential quality is measured
Sustainable development has traditionally focused on reducing a building’s environmental footprint. Regenerative development starts from a broader premise: that buildings are part of natural systems and should contribute positively to the environments around them.
The shift also reflects changing expectations among residential buyers. Knight Frank research into high-net-worth individuals interested in Dubai property found that proximity to parks and green spaces is becoming an increasingly important consideration, indicating that access to nature is playing a greater role in how people assess where they live.
For developers, this means that nature is increasingly being considered not simply as an amenity, but as part of the quality and long-term value of a residential environment.
2. Human health is becoming part of building performance
The performance of a building has traditionally been measured through factors such as energy efficiency, water consumption and emissions. Regenerative development expands this definition to consider the conditions people experience inside the building every day.
Air and water quality, thermal comfort, lighting, acoustics and access to nature all influence the quality of the indoor environment. For residential developments, these factors are becoming increasingly relevant as buyers place greater emphasis on health, recovery and quality of life.
EYWA Tree of Life, for example, incorporates MERV-14 air filtration, multi-stage water purification and mineralisation, non-toxic materials and biophilic design as part of its approach to healthier living environments.
This reflects a broader shift in the market. The UAE’s wellness real estate sector reached USD 14.6 billion in 2025, while the global wellness real estate market is projected to reach USD 1.8 trillion by 2030. At the same time, Dubai is developing a wider ecosystem around longevity and healthy life expectancy, including the Dubai Longevity Authority.
The implication for real estate is significant. Wellness is moving beyond individual amenities such as gyms, spas and pools towards the building itself — and the conditions it creates for everyday life.
3. Resource efficiency is moving from an operational consideration to a design principle
Regenerative development also changes how developers think about the resources that go into a building.
The World Green Building Council estimates that the built environment accounts for around 15% of global freshwater use. This is particularly relevant in the Middle East, where water scarcity creates additional pressure on how developments are designed and operated. Construction materials present another challenge: cement and steel are significant contributors to global emissions, while construction activity generates substantial volumes of waste.
Regenerative approaches address these challenges earlier in the development process through material selection, resource efficiency, reuse and lower-carbon specifications.
Importantly, reducing embodied carbon does not necessarily require significant additional cost. Research across the buildings studied by RMI found that upfront embodied carbon could be reduced by 19% to 46% through existing material and specification strategies, with cost premiums below 1%.
The opportunity is therefore not simply to consume fewer resources, but to rethink how materials, water and energy are selected, used and retained throughout a building’s lifecycle.
4. Long-term value will depend on how well buildings adapt
Real estate is inherently long term, yet development is often evaluated around a relatively short cycle: design, construction, launch and sale. Regenerative thinking extends the timeframe. It asks how a building will perform as climate conditions change, technologies evolve and the expectations of residents and investors develop.
This is particularly relevant in the Middle East. Cooling accounts for nearly half of peak electricity demand and around a quarter of annual electricity demand across MENA, making climate-responsive design an important consideration as temperatures and cooling requirements increase.
Adaptability also matters beyond operational performance. Buildings that can be renovated, reconfigured or repurposed over time are better positioned to retain their relevance without requiring complete replacement. Adaptive reuse can extend the life of existing structures, preserve architectural character and reduce the environmental cost associated with new construction.
The result is a broader definition of value. A regenerative building is not simply one that performs well when it is handed over. It is one designed to continue serving people, responding to changing conditions and retaining relevance over decades.
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Saudi Arabia’s Alramz Real Estate has secured $133 million in Shariah-compliant credit facilities from Al Rajhi Bank to support property acquisitions, development and expansion.
< 1 minAlramz Real Estate has obtained Shariah-compliant credit facilities worth SAR 500 million ($133 million) from Al Rajhi Bank to finance real estate acquisitions and development as part of its expansion plans.
The financing package includes a SAR 450 million tranche with a tenor of five years, and a SAR 50 million tranche with a tenor of three months.
Following the successful launch of its Palais Collection, MAISON de SABRÉ has unveiled a new modular handbag system offering more than 720 styling combinations.
Many of the most-important events have slipped from our collective memories. But their impacts live on.
Dubai’s freehold rental market gained momentum in August, with 39,645 contracts registered, up 3.79% month-on-month, while property sales reached AED28.6 billion.
2 minThe pace of new and renewed rental contracts recorded in Dubai’s freehold areas continued to increase in August, says a new report.
A market analysis from fäm Properties shows that 39,645 rental contracts were registered across Dubai’s freehold areas in August, a 3.79% month-on-month (MoM) increase. The volume of new contracts climbed 19.4% YoY to 20,611, while renewals increased by 4.4% YoY to 19,034.
This takes the total number of freehold rental contracts recorded for the first eight months in 2026 to 257,284, a 5.5% increase on the same period in 2025 which ultimately set a full-year record of 377,944 registered contracts.
To date this year, the leading area of Dubai in freehold rentals is Al Warsan First, with a total of 23,894 registered tenancy contracts. Underlining a consistent apartments preference in the market, 105,880 (41%) tenancy contracts registered were for one-bedroom units.
Meanwhile, Data from DXBinteract shows that the market delivered 12,018 sales transactions valued at AED28.6 billion ($7.79 billion) last month. Once again off plan sales dominated with 8,359 transactions worth AED 16.3 billion compared with 3,659 valued at AED12.4 billion in the resale market.
For a sixth consecutive month, Dubai South was the emirate’s best-performing area in primary market sales volume, recording 1,908 off-plan transactions worth AED2.3 billion.
“The rental market is an important indicator of how committed people are to living and working in Dubai, regardless of regional uncertainties over the last months,” said Firas Al Msaddi, CEO of fäm Properties. “The volume of new contracts in part reflects the fact that tenants are moving to take advantage of lower rents in some areas, which is natural in the circumstances.”
August recorded 9,974 apartment sales worth AED15.7 billion, alongside 1,354 villa sales worth AED7.9 billion, 183 plot sales valued at AED2.6 billion, and 420 commercial transactions, including offices and shops, worth AED AED1.5 billion.
The most expensive apartment sold in August went for AED86 million at The Address, Jumeirah Gate Tower 2 at Jumeirah Beach, while the most expensive villa fetched AED110 million at Signature Villas.
With properties worth more than AED5 million accounting for 5.7% of sales, 7.25% were between AED3-5 million, 10.9% between AED2-3 million, 33.2% between AED1-2 million and 42.8% were below AED1 million.
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Riyadh households are spending less of their income on rent, with the share falling to around 15% following measures to balance the capital’s property market.
< 1 minThe share of household income spent on rent in Riyadh has fallen to about 15%, from more than 17.5% in September 2025, according to Real Estate General Authority (REGA) CEO Abdullah Al-Hammad.
Speaking at the Legal Aspects of Governance Conference at King Saud University, Al-Hammad said the decline was among the tangible results recorded following the introduction of measures aimed at balancing Riyadh’s property market.
He noted that the most financially vulnerable households had been spending more than 30% of their income on rent.
Al-Hammad said Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman’s directives included continuously monitoring real estate indicators and submitting periodic reports on results and challenges.
Riyadh has introduced a series of measures aimed at addressing pressures in the rental market, including a five-year freeze on annual rent increases for existing and new residential and commercial lease contracts within the capital’s urban boundary.
For vacant residential and commercial properties that have previously been leased, the total rent is fixed at the amount stipulated in the property’s most recent Ejar contract. For properties that have never previously been rented, the rent is determined by agreement between the landlord and tenant.
The measures also extended the notice period required when a landlord does not intend to renew a standard residential lease because the property will be used personally or by a first-degree relative.
In such cases, tenants must receive at least 365 days’ notice before the lease expires. If notice is given less than 365 days before expiry, the lease is extended until a full year has elapsed from the date the tenant was notified.
Following the successful launch of its Palais Collection, MAISON de SABRÉ has unveiled a new modular handbag system offering more than 720 styling combinations.
The sports-car maker delivered 279,449 cars last year, down from 310,718 in 2024.
Al Reem Island captured nearly half of Abu Dhabi’s off-plan apartment transactions in Summer 2026, driven by waterfront living, expanding amenities and proximity to the capital’s financial center.
2 min
Al Reem Island is increasingly offering the mix homebuyers look for in an established neighbourhood – waterfront living, proximity to Abu Dhabi’s financial district, parks, schools, retail, dining and everyday services alongside a rapidly expanding off-plan residential market. That evolution is being matched by strong buyer activity, with 1,291 of Abu Dhabi’s 2,658 off-plan apartment transactions during Summer 2026 recorded on the island, according to proprietary market analysis by MERED, an award-winning international real estate developer.
Residential activity has accelerated sharply over the past two years. Approximately 139,000 sqm of off-plan apartments were sold on Al Reem Island during Summer 2026, compared with 34,000 sqm in Summer 2024, representing a more than fourfold increase.
Across Abu Dhabi, approximately 308,000 sqm of off-plan apartments were sold during Summer 2026, 2.4 times the volume recorded in Summer 2024. Al Reem Island alone accounted for approximately 45% of the total area sold during the period.
Prices have risen alongside transaction activity. MERED’s analysis found that the average transacted price for off-plan apartments across Abu Dhabi increased by 28% between Summer 2024 and Summer 2026, reaching approximately US$7,070 per sqm.
For buyers looking beyond the apartment itself, Al Reem has steadily added many of the features associated with an established residential community. Reem Central Park brings a waterfront setting, beach and outdoor sports facilities together with a four-kilometre promenade, while the wider island includes schools, restaurants, shopping and everyday services. Reem Mall and Shams Boutik add to the retail and leisure offering, while Al Maryah Island and central Abu Dhabi are within easy reach. Zayed International Airport is approximately a 25- to 30-minute drive away.
“Al Reem Island has also taken on a larger role within Abu Dhabi’s business landscape since its inclusion within the jurisdiction of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). The UAE Cabinet expanded ADGM’s jurisdiction to include Al Reem Island in 2023, alongside Al Maryah Island. ADGM completed the integration of Al Reem at the end of 2024, with more than 1,100 businesses on the island operating under its jurisdiction by February 2025.”
Artemiy Marinin, Project Director at MERED, said, “As Al Reem matures, the benchmark for successful residential projects is changing. Buyers are becoming more selective, looking closely at how well a home is planned, how it functions day to day, the quality of construction, the amenities it offers and its long-term relevance. For developers, that means creating homes that respond to how people actually want to live, while giving projects a clear sense of distinction in an increasingly competitive market. The projects that stand out will be those that combine thoughtful design and genuine quality with a clear understanding of what residents value, and that can remain relevant as the neighbourhood continues to evolve. That is the direction we see Al Reem moving in, and it is the standard we are applying to Riviera Residences.”
The findings come amid wider growth in Abu Dhabi’s off-plan residential market. Data published by the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (ADREC) for H1 2026 shows that off-plan transactions accounted for 82% of residential deals and 89% of residential sales value across the emirate. The combination of rising residential demand, increasing transaction volumes, an expanding lifestyle offering and deeper integration into Abu Dhabi’s financial centre is strengthening Al Reem Island’s position as a key mixed-use district within the capital.
MERED is developing Riviera Residences on the waterfront of Al Reem Island. Designed by Swiss architecture practice Herzog & de Meuron, the development will include apartments, villas, duplexes and a penthouse and is scheduled for completion in Q3 2029.
Following the successful launch of its Palais Collection, MAISON de SABRÉ has unveiled a new modular handbag system offering more than 720 styling combinations.
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
ICC MENA will join two major Dubai construction forums this September to explore how modular building and other innovations can move beyond pilot projects and achieve industry-wide adoption.
2 min
The International Code Council (ICC) MENA is set to contribute to two key construction industry forums in Dubai this September, bringing its expertise to discussions around one of the sector’s most pressing themes: how to move construction innovation beyond pilot projects and into practical, scalable application.
ICC MENA’s Managing Director, Mohamed Amer, will participate in Construction Technology ConFex 2026, taking place on September 9–10, as part of a panel titled “Beyond Pilots: Scaling Modular and Off-Site Construction.” The discussion will examine why modular and off-site construction, despite demonstrating technical viability, has yet to achieve mass adoption, and what is needed to move these solutions from individual projects to commercially viable models at scale.
It will address the barriers limiting wider deployment, including how the value of modular construction is assessed. A key focus will be the shift from upfront cost comparisons toward a total cost of ownership approach, highlighting the longer-term value of modular and off-site solutions and how this could support wider industry adoption.
Mohamed Amer will be joined by Ajay Venu, Director Project Controls at Modon Real Estate; Mohammed Azzam, Division Head Modular Construction at ECC; and Iman Abi Saab, Buildings Lead Middle East at Mott MacDonald, for a discussion focused on the commercial, technical and project considerations shaping the future of modular construction.
Later in the month, ICC MENA will continue the conversation at Construction Week’s Leaders in Construction Conference on September 30, where Mohamed Amer will participate in a panel titled “The Innovation Bottleneck.” The session will examine why promising construction innovations so often remain in pilot mode and what it takes to translate new ideas into solutions that can be successfully implemented across live projects and at scale.
With the construction industry across the region continuing to embrace new technologies, delivery models and approaches to project execution, the ability to scale innovation will be increasingly important. From modular construction and off-site manufacturing to new technologies and processes, successful adoption requires more than proving that an idea works, it requires the right commercial models, industry alignment, standards and practical pathways for implementation.
Commenting on ICC MENA’s participation, Mohamed Amer, Managing Director – MENA, International Code Council, said: “The construction industry has no shortage of innovative ideas, technologies and solutions. The bigger challenge is creating the conditions that allow those innovations to move beyond individual pilots and become part of how projects are delivered at scale. These discussions provide an opportunity to look closely at what is holding adoption back, while exploring the commercial, technical and practical considerations that can help turn proven concepts into repeatable solutions.”
Through its participation in both forums, ICC MENA will contribute to the wider industry dialogue around creating a construction sector that is not only innovative, but also equipped to implement and scale new approaches effectively across the region.
Following the successful launch of its Palais Collection, MAISON de SABRÉ has unveiled a new modular handbag system offering more than 720 styling combinations.
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
Abu Dhabi has opened bookings and sales for 1,500 homes in the West Baniyas Housing Project, allowing eligible citizens to select their preferred properties digitally.
< 1 min
The Abu Dhabi Housing Authority Wednesday announced the commencement of the booking and sales process for 1,500 residential units in the West Baniyas Housing Project, marking a strategic shift in how citizens acquire housing benefits in the emirate by allowing beneficiaries to directly select their preferred homes within the development.
Developed by Modon Properties, the West Baniyas Housing Project offers an integrated community ecosystem designed to meet the long-term needs of UAE nationals, with overall construction scheduled for completion during the second quarter of 2027. All housing units in the development have been designed to accommodate future physical expansions to support evolving family sizes over time.
The authority has adopted a phased digital booking mechanism based on citizenship benefit types, family size, and financial capacity, while incorporating first- and second-degree family data to allow eligible relatives to secure neighboring properties in line with the objectives of the Year of the Family initiative.
The initial phase opens exclusively to housing grant beneficiaries and their eligible family members, followed by a second phase dedicated to deferred housing purchase loan recipients, who may select homes matching their loan allocation or opt for higher-tier units by paying the difference.
The final phase will open to standard housing purchase loan recipients under established regulatory guidelines, with eligible citizens receiving personalized access links via direct SMS text messaging.
Following the successful launch of its Palais Collection, MAISON de SABRÉ has unveiled a new modular handbag system offering more than 720 styling combinations.
Interior designer Thomas Hamel on where it goes wrong in so many homes.
New Murabba has appointed Sabah Barakat as acting CEO, replacing Michael Dyke as Saudi Arabia reassesses major real estate projects under Vision 2030.
2 min
New Murabba, the developer behind one of Saudi Arabia’s gigaprojects, has replaced its chief executive in a further sign of changes across flagship real estate investments in the kingdom amid a retooling of the Gulf country’s economic transformation plan.
New Murabba, owned by the country’s wealth fund PIF, has appointed Sabah Barakat as acting chief executive, according to the company’s website and was mentioned in that role in a company statement this week about an investment partnership. He replaces British manager Michael Dyke, chief executive since 2024.
Barakat is a senior executive within the PIF and is also acting group CEO of state-backed developer ROSHN Group.
It was not immediately clear whether Dyke would remain at New Murabba.
The PIF redirected questions around the management changes and the project to New Murabba, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Dyke could not be reached for comment.
The company’s major projects include construction of a colossal cube-shaped skyscraper at the centre of a downtown development in Riyadh, and the shake-up comes months after Reuters reported the project was facing difficulties.
Saudi Arabia has been investing hundreds of billions of dollars to transform its economy and cut reliance on hydrocarbon revenues under an ambitious agenda called “Vision 2030” spearheaded by the PIF. It aims to create new industries with investment in various sector including tourism, technology and with massive real estate projects.
However, overspending and lower-than-anticipated global oil prices in recent years hit state revenues and left Riyadh struggling to deliver some of the projects, which were omitted or largely scaled back under the wealth fund’s 2026-2030 strategy, released in April.
Real estate consultancy Knight Frank estimated the New Murabba district would cost about $50 billion. Initial plans for the project called for completion by 2030, but it is now slated to be completed by 2040.
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Following the devastation of recent flooding, experts are urging government intervention to drive the cessation of building in areas at risk.
Georgetown agent Jamie Peva blends history and real estate on Instagram, turning local stories into a powerful sales strategy.
5 min
On a recent morning in Georgetown—Washington, D.C.’s oldest neighborhood—real-estate agent Jamie Peva strode down leafy N Street, brimming with historical tidbits.
Jackie Kennedy once lived on the street, he said. So did Ben Bradlee, former executive editor of the Washington Post, along with a former Miss America and a powerful U.S. Senator. Bradlee’s widow, author Sally Quinn, and Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, own stately homes there.
“I’ve seen a picture of Lyndon Johnson coming out of this house,” said Peva, passing a Federal-style brick mansion. “Also, the Beatles went to a lawn party here.”
Peva, a 60-year-old agent with Washington Fine Properties, has sold Georgetown real estate for over three decades, often traversing the neighborhood by bicycle. Of the roughly 2,500 houses in the historic neighborhood, he has been involved in the sale of 460, he estimated. A self-styled historian of the neighborhood, he knows stories behind its houses and their owners going back generations.
With a knack for lively storytelling, he shares his knowledge with some 37,500 Instagram followers, who have made Peva—sporting the bow ties he has worn since boarding school—an unlikely social-media influencer. Many of his followers are locals, and most have no plans to buy or sell real estate—until they do. It is then, according to Peva, that his spirited reels bring him to mind.
“It’s the digital version of a refrigerator magnet,” he said.
After Peva’s first video in November 2023, his eponymous Instagram account sparked a 10% increase in sales volume in the first year, and another 20% the next, he estimated. “It’s been very good for business, there is no question about it,” he said.
But Peva’s posts have also made him a local celebrity. As he walked down N street, the driver of a Mercedes station wagon slowed down to honk and wave. A lady walking a large dark gray dog stopped to ask what he was filming that day (a reel about a Colonial-era bottling plant.) Peva knew the dog from walking his two springers, Jumpy and Peggy-O, in the neighborhood.
“I need to make a video about the pooches of Georgetown,” he mused.
A growing number of real-estate agents now use social media to sell, and some have millions of followers with reels featuring ultraluxury pads, selling tips or reality TV-style reports on their daily lives. While Peva posts about his listings—and sometimes those of other agents—he mostly focuses on Georgetown history, local businesses and community events, saying his goal is to benefit both his business and the neighborhood.
“If we don’t find something genuinely interesting and worth sharing, we won’t do it,” said Peva’s daughter, Violet Peva, a New York social-media strategist who films, edits and posts his reels. “We cover many topics, not just real-estate information.”
Peva is originally from Connecticut, but has lived in Georgetown for over 30 years, currently in a cottage-style house with a white picket fence. Over the years, Georgetown has changed. The Georgetown Set, a powerful group of Cold War-era residents whose Sunday-night potluck dinners are said to have swayed U.S. policy, has long faded away. The community is still home to high-profile Washingtonians, including a Republican senator and several cabinet members. But it increasingly also attracts technology and finance executives, according to Peva. He now routinely signs nondisclosure agreements, ensuring privacy for wealthy clients. The shift has made him rethink his marketing approach.
“For years, a big part of our Georgetown business was made up of people who maintained a low profile,” he said. Real-estate agents were similarly low-key. Today, curb appeal is more important, he said, and agents are promoting themselves more. “As this change was underfoot, I was thinking that I needed to evolve myself too,” he said.
Though his own social-media use is mostly limited to following sailing accounts, he asked his daughter to help him post his listings online. Violet, now 26, started coming to D.C. once a month to film his reels. After an early video, on a condominium building called the Elliott, her sister Fern called her to report: “Daddy’s blowing up on Instagram,” Violet recalled. The reel got over 50,000 views. The next two each drew over 300,000. Peva’s most popular post ever, with over 838,000 views, was about the Grateful Dead playing in Georgetown. Sometimes, Peva interviews Georgetowners such as Quinn, the author, or Jamie Stachowski, the owner of a local butcher shop.
Peva, who majored in history in college, now spends up to two hours a day on research, usually in the morning while on his stationery bike. Online, he pores over old newspapers or the Library of Congress website, and he has a collection of articles and books—in and out of print—about Georgetown.
Companies often approach Peva for promotional posts, he said, but he turns them down, feeling that followers would lose interest in constant commercials. One exception is a recent paid post on Mount Vernon, the former home of George Washington. Peva wanted to share its history, he said, and didn’t want to lose the opportunity to another Instagrammer.
Anthony Arend, a professor at Georgetown University, has lived in his current home for 19 years without any plans to sell or buy real estate. But he follows Peva and often likes his posts.
“He is very charismatic, he is energetic, and he obviously knows a lot about the community,” said Arend, who has referred house-hunting friends to Peva.
One of Peva’s biggest deals—the $10.5 million sale of a 19th-century Italianate mansion—came after he made two 2024 reels featuring the property. In March, he sold the longtime O Street home of Tim and Jane Matz for $5.8 million after featuring it on his Instagram. Peva had showed them the home 25 years earlier, with Violet in a baby carrier on his back.
Last year, Kate Watts, 49, a digital consultant, called Peva to sell her late father’s three-bedroom house on Q Street; her husband had seen Peva on Instagram. In an October reel, Peva praised the architecture of the house, designed by modernist Hugh Newell Jacobsen. Halfway through, he mentioned an open house the next day, ending with an upbeat: “Did I also mention this house is for sale? $3.75 million!” The reel got 27,000 views, the open house was packed, and the buyers made an offer at the list price on the same day.
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Dubai Land Department will showcase its latest smart services and initiatives at IPS 2026, supporting a more transparent, efficient, and investor-friendly real estate market.
2 min
Dubai Land Department (DLD), in its capacity as Strategic Partner, is participating in the 22nd edition of IPS, taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 7 to 9 September. During the event, DLD will showcase a range of smart initiatives and services that reflect the continued advancement of Dubai’s real estate ecosystem and the diversity of solutions available to investors, customers, and industry professionals.
DLD’s participation brings together a range of solutions spanning homeownership facilitation and access to real estate data, through to digital services, brokerage services, and enhanced customer experience. These solutions contribute to greater ease of doing business, market efficiency, and transparency, while supporting the objectives of the Dubai Real Estate Strategy 2033 and the Dubai Economic Agenda D33.
To support homeownership, DLD will showcase the First-Time Home Buyer Programme, which facilitates the first step toward property ownership for UAE nationals and residents through a range of benefits and incentives offered in collaboration with participating developers and financial institutions. The program helps expand the base of property owners and supports sustainable demand in the market.
As part of its digital services offering, DLD will highlight the Dubai REST app as a unified platform providing access to a wide range of real estate services and data. The app helps accelerate transaction completion and facilitates access to services through a more integrated digital experience. DLD will also showcase its ‘DLD Services’ display, enabling visitors to explore the range of services offered by Dubai Land Department to its customers.
Data also forms a key part of DLD’s participation through the ‘Real Estate Transactions’ and ‘Real Estate Data’ displays, which provide visitors with access to market and transaction-related information. These tools enable investors and customers to monitor market activity and trends while supporting more informed decision-making based on clear, accessible data.
DLD will also spotlight its brokerage services through a dedicated display for real estate brokers within the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA). As part of its customer experience offering, DLD will showcase ‘Malik’, its omnichannel customer service assistant, which provides round-the-clock support and responds to inquiries across integrated channels, facilitating access to information and services while enhancing response efficiency.
These solutions reflect an integrated approach through which DLD continues to enhance the experience of all stakeholders across the real estate market, from expanding opportunities for property ownership and providing data that supports informed decision-making, to strengthening brokerage services, advancing service digitalization, and simplifying the customer journey.
DLD’s participation in IPS 2026 comes amid the event’s strong international presence, bringing together developers, investors, financial institutions, decision-makers, and experts from across global markets. This provides an opportunity to showcase the continued evolution of Dubai’s real estate ecosystem to an international audience, while strengthening engagement with investors and key stakeholders across the sector.
Through this participation, Dubai Land Department continues to support the emirate’s objectives of building a more efficient, transparent, and competitive real estate market, while leveraging technology, data, and partnerships to enhance services and expand opportunities, further strengthening Dubai’s attractiveness as a destination for real estate investment and ownership.
Following the successful launch of its Palais Collection, MAISON de SABRÉ has unveiled a new modular handbag system offering more than 720 styling combinations.
Oman’s public revenues rose 13% to OMR6.6 billion in Q2 2026, driven by higher oil and gas revenues.
< 1 min
The Sultanate of Oman’s public revenues recorded a 13 % increase by the end of the second quarter of 2026, reaching approximately OMR6.602 billion, compared to approximately OMR5.839 billion during the corresponding period of the previous year. This growth is primarily attributable to higher oil revenues.
According to the Fiscal Performance Bulletin issued by the Omani Ministry of Finance, total public expenditure stood at approximately OMR6.619 billion by the end of Q2 2026, marking an increase of OMR521 million, or 9 %, relative to the OMR6.098 billion recorded during the same period in 2025. This rise reflects higher development and current expenditures compared to the equivalent period last year.
The Bulletin further indicated that net oil revenues rose by 10 % by the end of Q2 2026, reaching approximately OMR3.332 billion, compared to OMR3.018 billion recorded during the same period in 2025.
Net gas revenues also increased by 32 % to OMR1.164 billion, up from OMR884 million in the corresponding period of 2025.
The Bulletin noted that total public debt amounted to OMR14.16 billion by the end of Q2 2026, relative to OMR14.12 billion recorded at the same period in 2025, representing a marginal increase of approximately 0.3 %.
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Al Jaddaf Rotana Complex strengthens sustainable hospitality through recognized certifications and measurable reductions in energy use and waste.
3 min
Al Jaddaf Rotana Complex has been recognized for its continued progress in sustainable hospitality, with its properties achieving Green Key, Travelife and Dubai Sustainable Tourism (DST) recognition for their ongoing commitment to responsible hotel operations. Al Jaddaf Rotana Suite Hotel has achieved Green Key Certification and the DST Silver Award, while Arabian Park and Park Apartments have achieved Travelife Certification and the DST Bronze Award.
The milestones form part of the Complex’s ongoing sustainability journey, with Travelife Certification achieved by Arabian Park and Park Apartments in 2025, followed by their DST Bronze Award, while Al Jaddaf Rotana Suite Hotel received its Green Key Certification and DST Silver Award in 2026. Across the properties, these achievements are supported by measurable action spanning energy and water conservation, waste management, sustainable procurement, guest amenities, food and beverage practices and colleague engagement.
In 2025, Al Jaddaf Rotana Suite Hotel recorded a 9.2% reduction in total energy consumption, while Arabian Park achieved a 5.4% reduction, compared with the previous year. Al Jaddaf Rotana Suite Hotel has also achieved 100% diversion of waste from landfill, with food and general waste processed through a Waste-to-Energy facility.
Stefan Schmid, Complex General Manager, Al Jaddaf Rotana Complex, commented on this recognition saying, “Sustainability is an important part of how we operate and how we contribute to the future of tourism in Dubai and the UAE. These recognitions are a meaningful validation of the progress our teams have made, but more importantly, they reinforce our responsibility to turn sustainable practices into measurable action. From reducing energy consumption and diverting waste from landfill to engaging our colleagues and communities, we are focused on making responsible hospitality part of our everyday operations. We are proud to contribute to Dubai’s vision for a more sustainable tourism sector while continuing to deliver the standards of hospitality our guests expect.”
AL JADDAF ROTANA SUITE HOTEL
At Al Jaddaf Rotana Suite Hotel, sustainability has been integrated across multiple areas of the operation, with a focus on resource management, waste reduction, guest amenities and food and beverage practices.
The hotel has continued to reduce its reliance on conventional single-use plastics, with in-room amenities transitioned to more sustainable alternatives, including FSC-certified kraft paper packaging, corn starch-based products and wheat straw fiber items. The entire in-room dispenser set has also been transitioned to wheat straw fiber, replacing conventional plastic dispensers. Other initiatives include wooden pencils and reusable metal pens as alternatives to plastic products.
Across food and beverage operations, takeaway containers and packaging have moved towards paper-based and other more sustainable alternatives, complemented by wood-dust straws. The hotel also offers Green Meeting options to support more environmentally conscious events.
The hotel’s waste management program supports its wider resource efficiency efforts, with food and general waste processed through a Waste-to-Energy facility, supporting resource recovery and eliminating the need for landfill disposal.
These initiatives complement the hotel’s Green Key Certification and DST Silver Award, recognizing its continued commitment to environmental management and sustainable hospitality.
ARABIAN PARK, EDGE BY ROTANA
At Arabian Park, Edge by Rotana, sustainability efforts have focused on strengthening responsible environmental and social practices across the hotel’s operations. The property achieved Travelife Certification in 2025, followed by the DST Bronze Award in 2026, recognizing its continued progress in sustainable hospitality.
The hotel’s sustainability program includes initiatives focused on energy and water conservation, waste management, food waste reduction, sustainable procurement and reducing reliance on single-use plastics, supporting a more resource-efficient approach to day-to-day operations.
PARK APARTMENTS, EDGE BY ROTANA
Park Apartments, Edge by Rotana has similarly strengthened its approach to responsible hospitality, achieving Travelife Certification in 2025 and the DST Bronze Award in 2026.
Its sustainability efforts span resource conservation, waste management, sustainable procurement and reduced reliance on single-use plastics, alongside community-focused initiatives that support a more responsible approach to hospitality.
A SHARED COMMITMENT TO RESPONSIBLE HOSPITALITY
Across the properties, sustainability is supported by continued colleague engagement, with 100% of colleagues completing the required sustainability training through Rotana’s RISE platform, complemented by ongoing awareness and refresher initiatives.
Community-focused efforts also form part of the properties’ approach, including donation drives, linen repurposing, charitable campaigns and employee volunteering. Together with ongoing work around energy and water conservation, food waste reduction, sustainable procurement and waste management, these initiatives help make sustainability part of everyday hotel operations rather than a standalone program.
The certifications and awards mark an important step in the properties’ ongoing sustainability journeys, reinforcing their commitment to measurable environmental progress, responsible operations and the continued development of sustainable hospitality in Dubai and the UAE.
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Cityscape Global returns to Riyadh from 16–19 November 2026, connecting global investors and developers with real estate opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
3 min
Cityscape Global 2026 – The Capital of Real Estate is set to return to Riyadh, convening property investors, developers, architects, banks, and government representatives to expand real estate investment opportunities. The event will be held at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Centre (Malham) from 16-19 November, sponsored by the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing (MOMAH) in partnership with the Real Estate General Authority (REGA), Vision 2030, the Housing Program, and organized by Tahaluf.
A platform aligned with national priorities
Saudi Arabia continues to prioritize investment across key sectors such as urban development, infrastructure, and entertainment as part of its long-term economic transformation. Cityscape Global brings together the stakeholders, projects, and capital shaping this next phase of growth.
His Excellency Majed bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, Minister of Municipalities and Housing, Saudi Arabia, said:
“Cityscape Global supports our efforts to expand homeownership and improve access to real estate investment across Saudi Arabia. The scale of last year’s edition, which saw $63 billion in deals signed and over 164,000+ visits, reflects the strength of the market and the role this platform plays in connecting stakeholders. By bringing together developers, investors, and government entities, Cityscape Global helps accelerate delivery and supports our long-term development goals.”
Global participation, local impact
Cityscape Global stands is a leading international platform for the real estate industry, attracting top-tier developers and investors from around the world. In 2025, the event welcomed over 164,000+ visits from 120+ countries, demonstrating true global reach. More than 35,000 investors and professionals formed a powerful international network, and 82 international developers showcased their projects, highlighting Cityscape Global’s unmatched international presence. With 600+ exhibitors expected in 2026, Cityscape Global is set to further expand its global footprint.
For investors, Cityscape Global is an unparalleled gateway to lucrative opportunities, offering direct access to a diverse portfolio of Saudi and international projects under one roof. Attending institutional investors represent over $6 trillion in assets under management across real estate and infrastructure, underlining the scale of opportunity.
Fahad Al Jahrami, Chief Development and Asset Management Officer at Qatari Diar, said:
“We were honored and pleased to have participated in Cityscape Global 2025. This is our third engagement with this fantastic event, and we are grateful for the opportunities Cityscape Global provides to connect with major real estate development companies. The event offers excellent opportunities for our company to showcase our projects and products. We view Cityscape Global as the ideal platform to connect with investors and business leaders from around the world, which aligns with our ambitions for expansion and growth.”
In a strong endorsement of this year’s event, a distinguished roster of industry leaders has been confirmed among the Strategic, Diamond, and Platinum Partners.
The Strategic Partners include Ajdan, Ajlan & Bros, Al Basateen, Arabian Dyar, Ajlan Riviera, Dar Wa Emaar, Kaden, Al Majdiah, Mohammad Al Habib, Osus, Osool, Al Rashid Properties, Retal, TMG and Zood reflecting broad support from across the region’s real estate sector.
Meanwhile, Diamond Sponsors comprise Abyatona, Mobtakeron Realty, Mountain View, Rafal, Saudi Downtown, Thakher Development and Al Woroud Real Estate. Platinum Sponsors include Knowledge Economic City (KEC), Liwan and Tazayud further underscoring the event’s growing prominence within the industry.
Programmes launched to support investors in 2026:
This year Cityscape Global will showcase targeted initiatives to enhance investor relations.
Real Estate Leaders Club
A dedicated programme for senior international investors, developers, and hospitality operators, featuring:
- Pre-scheduled one-to-one meetings with local developers, investors, officials, and partners
- Private networking, site visits, and curated introductions
- Access to expert-led sessions on market trends and investment strategies
G2G Co-Lab
A government focused platform for Ministers, Mayors and Ambassadors designed to strengthen international collaboration through:
- Private roundtables and policy discussions
- Expert panels on urban development and infrastructure
- Curated networking between public and private sector leaders
- A dedicated VIP programme and site tours
Looking ahead to 2026
Rachel Sturgess, Executive Vice President of Tahaluf, said:
“In 2025, Cityscape Global brought together capital and funds representing $6.1 trillion in real estate and infrastructure assets under management, including global leaders such as BlackRock, Brookfield, UBS, PGIM, King Street, and Hines. The event reflects its continued scale and relevance as a global meeting point for the real estate industry. In 2026, we will introduce new initiatives to streamline property access, foster strategic partnerships with investors, and create new opportunities for engagement across the real estate ecosystem. Cityscape Global continues to serve as a leading platform connecting global capital with real estate opportunities.”
Registration for Cityscape Global 2026 is now open.
Following the successful launch of its Palais Collection, MAISON de SABRÉ has unveiled a new modular handbag system offering more than 720 styling combinations.
