BEEAH’s Khaled Al Huraimel on its first major real estate project, Khalid Bin Sultan City
The group CEO and vice chairman of BEEAH discusses the company’s move into real estate, the foundational values behind the project, and how it aligns with national and regional urban transformation agendas
24 June, 2025
TT
16
As the UAE accelerates efforts to build smart, sustainable cities, BEEAH has launched its first major real estate development, Khalid Bin Sultan City.
In this interview, Khaled Al Huraimel, group CEO and vice chairman, discusses the company’s move into real estate, the foundational values behind the project, and how it aligns with national and regional urban transformation agendas.
What prompted BEEAH’s move into real estate development at this point in its growth journey?
At BEEAH, we’ve always pursued a clear mission: to shape a sustainable future and enhance quality of life for all people. Our journey began in waste management, but our evolution has been shaped by a deeper understanding of what communities need to thrive – clean energy, smart technologies, healthcare infrastructure, and ultimately, environments that enhance quality of life.
Real estate became the natural next step. It’s not just an expansion of our business – it’s a platform that allows us to bring together everything we’ve built across sectors. From circular waste systems and renewable energy to AI–driven infrastructure and people–first urban design, real estate is where our ecosystem can be applied in the most tangible way. That’s what led us to launch Khalid Bin Sultan City: a landmark project that exemplifies our commitment to building people-first, cities of the future.
What is Khalid Bin Sultan City, and what foundational values does BEEAH offer its residents?
Khalid Bin Sultan City is a climate–smart, net–zero ready urban development – master planned by Zaha Hadid Architects and located in Sharjah’s Rodhat Al Sidir district. Envisioned as a city of the future, it will be shaped by four foundational pillars: sustainability, technology, culture, and people.
It will offer 1,500 freehold residential units – villas, townhouses, and apartments – surrounded by green corridors, cultural landmarks, wellness spaces, and smart infrastructure. Anchoring the city is a 1.5–kilometre green spine — a central landscape corridor that supports biodiversity, encourages active living, and connects neighbourhoods through nature.
At its heart is a landmark cultural centre that will host exhibitions, performances, and thought leadership events — creating a cultural anchor for the community. It’s a place where environmental harmony is standard, not aspirational; where daily life is enhanced by technology; and where human connection and wellbeing are built into the design of the built environment.
How will it redefine the real estate market in the region?
Khalid Bin Sultan City is not a traditional real estate development. It’s a blueprint for future cities – regenerative, resilient, and restorative in every sense.
We’re introducing net–zero–ready infrastructure and integrating renewable energy at the neighbourhood scale. Our waste management system is zero–landfill by design, supported by smart segregation infrastructure and integration with BEEAH’s regional waste recovery network. We’re embedding digital twin systems to optimise resource use in real time. And we’re reimagining mobility with EV–ready networks, smart parking, and ride–sharing platforms.
What this means for the market is a new standard – where developments are not only smart or sustainable, but also truly systemic in their thinking. We believe this project will challenge the current model and inspire others to raise their ambitions for what urban development can achieve.
How does BEEAH plan to differentiate its real estate offerings in a competitive regional market?
In a booming real estate market, differentiation must go deeper than architecture or amenities. What sets us apart is the integration of systems – systems that span energy, waste, water, logistics, culture, and community engagement.
We’re drawing on more than a decade of experience in designing and managing high–performance infrastructure. Our HQ in Sharjah, also designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, is already a benchmark for intelligent, low–emission buildings. The Sharjah Creative Quarter and the Jawaher Boston Medical District are further proof points of our ability to deliver visionary projects across different urban typologies.
Khalid Bin Sultan City brings all of these learnings together. It’s not just a city – it’s a living, evolving model for how a city can function in service of its people and its environment.
Sustainability, innovation, and quality of life are described as pillars of your projects. Can you elaborate on how these values will be embedded in upcoming developments?
Sustainability is the foundation – from LEED–aligned construction to circular material flows. We’re powering the city with a combination of solar and waste–to–energy solutions, and integrating on–site water recycling, stormwater management, and resilient drainage systems. Our aim is total landfill independence and a carbon–neutral trajectory.
Innovation comes through our digital layer. Every building, transport node, and utility will feed into a central digital twin – enabling real–time optimisation of energy and resource use. For example, public lighting and cooling systems can adapt to weather, occupancy, and time of day. Residents will have decentralised digital identities, offering seamless access to homes, services, and mobility platforms. AI will enhance everything from logistics to public safety.
Quality of life ties it all together. We’re creating walkable neighbourhoods, shaded green paths, wellness zones, vibrant parks, and cultural venues. No home will be more than a five–minute walk from key services. The entire environment — from greenery to infrastructure — is designed to support physical, emotional, and social wellbeing.
BEEAH has had success across sectors such as environment and healthcare. How will learnings from those industries inform your real estate strategy?
Our expertise across sectors gives us a 360–degree view of how cities operate. In environment, our zero–waste systems — which have helped Sharjah achieve over 90 per cent landfill diversion — are embedded in the city’s infrastructure, including smart bins, digital collection tracking, and decentralised composting hubs.
In energy, we’re applying waste–to–energy and solar innovation at the neighbourhood level, ensuring clean, reliable power with built–in resilience. From healthcare, particularly the Jawaher Boston Medical District, we’ve adopted a design philosophy that centres wellbeing, health access, and biophilic planning.
In technology, ventures like EVOTEQ and re.life have enabled us to build platforms for supply chain management, logistics, recycling, and EV infrastructure — all of which are being adapted to serve residents directly.
With Sharjah as your base, will future projects be concentrated in the UAE or will we see BEEAH real estate ventures regionally and globally?
Our roots are in Sharjah, and we’re proud to contribute to its growth. But the vision we are developing — for net–zero, smart, and human–centric cities — is one that has global relevance.
We see strong opportunities for regional expansion, especially in markets that are prioritising sustainability, infrastructure development, and climate adaptation. Our experience in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, through environmental partnerships, has shown us how our models can be adapted to different geographies. Real estate is a natural extension of this.
That said, we remain focused on execution — ensuring that our first developments deliver both impact and insight. Once that foundation is solid, we will absolutely explore opportunities beyond the UAE.
How do these efforts align with UAE and regional visions for smart and sustainable cities?
Khalid Bin Sultan City is deeply aligned with the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 strategy and Sharjah’s broader urban and environmental agenda. Our masterplan supports climate adaptation, renewable energy targets, AI–driven governance, and improved public health outcomes — all core to the national vision for the future.
More importantly, it offers a live demonstration of how those goals can be achieved through integrated, people–first design. Our hope is that this city, and BEEAH’s wider real estate platform, will serve as a model — not just for building sustainably, but for building meaningfully, with long–term impact and resilience.
