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Sharjah-based developer Arada — backed by royals from Saudi Arabia and the UAE — partnered with Syria’s recently formed (and opaque) sovereign wealth fund to develop a $7 billion new district in Damascus. The deal is the latest example of Gulf capital being funneled into Syria’s reconstruction, aligned with a broader US effort to keep the country out of Iran’s orbit. It also marks a return, of sorts, for one of the region’s top investors: Arada’s co-founder Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud is the son of billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owned the Four Seasons hotel in Damascus before selling it to a frontman for Syria’s deposed president in 2018. For UAE property developers, which were facing a slowing home market even before the Iran war, Syria also represents an international growth opportunity. Dubai real estate mogul Mohamed Alabbar announced in July plans to develop housing and tourism infrastructure in Syria worth at least $20 billion, including homes, resorts, and schools in Damascus and the coastal city of Latakia.
document fetched 2026-09-03 03:00 · canonical https://semafor.com/article/09/02/2026/uae-real-estate-developer-arada-agrees-to-build-7b-district-in-damascus