Saudi developer Dar Global eyes $300m US expansion

Saudi property developer Dar Global plans to invest $300m in New York, Miami and Los Angeles in the coming months as it seeks partners to develop luxury homes the US.

The London-listed firm hopes to announce its latest development in the US before the year-end, said Ziad El Chaar, Dar Global’s chief executive officer.

He said Dar Global has been meeting with top real estate developers, but declined to identify the firms with whom it might partner.

“We are really focusing on closing the first project in the US before the end of the year,” El Chaar said in an interview from Dubai. He said Dar Global is ready to raise debt in and outside the US to help finance its US projects, and that its $300m investment will be in the form of equity.

Dar Global, the international arm of Saudi Arabia’s Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Company, hopes to sell at least half of the homes in its US developments to non-US buyers, El Chaar said.

Dar Global, Trump Organization partnership

Dar Al Arkan in November 2022 signed an agreement with the Trump Organization, the company of former US President Donald Trump, to use the Trump brand for its $4bn project in Oman that includes a golf course, hotel and villas.

In an announcement made on June 26, Dar Global unveiled the scale and renders of the upcoming Oman project, which is located at the sprawling AIDA development.

The Trump International Oman is part of AIDA, one of the largest premium mixed-use developments globally, spanning 3.5 million square metres.

The Trump International Oman will feature a 140-key, 5-star hotel complex that includes suites, furnished villas, and serviced apartments. The resort’s offerings will include an 18-hole championship golf course, as per the official release.

Dar Global’s other international projects include The Mulliner in the UK, Terra Viva in Spain, and W Residences in Downtown Dubai.

In the UAE, the international developer unveiled a branded residential project in UAE’s Ras Al Khaimah, in partnership with Aston Martin.

Read: The Astera: Dar Global, Aston Martin reveal what goes into the making of a star

Donal Trump’s ties in the Middle East

Trump enjoyed close ties with Gulf states during his tenure as US president, including Saudi Arabia which has invested $2bn with a firm of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former aide, incorporated after Trump left office.

El Chaar said while it will be an “honour” for Dar Global to partner with the Trump Organization or the Kushner Companies, Kushner’s family real estate firm, in its US expansion, he did not think they have the “right product” as they are too focused on the US market, as opposed to the international buyer targeted by Dar Global.

Read: Dar Global ties up with Trump Organization for luxury resort in Oman