Connecting People with Places
ROSHN is a giga-project owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and they have been mandated to be the nation’s mixed-asset real estate developer and a key enabler of Saudi’s Vision 2030 goals. In this interview, we speak with David Grover, Group Chief Executive Officer of ROSHN to discuss the different aspects of the development and how it will bring a new way of life to the Kingdom.
The company is building transformative real estate projects coast-to-coast across the Kingdom founded on human-centric, integrated, mixed-use projects that boost the quality of life, support economic diversification and fulfil their vision to ‘connect people and places with all the aspects of life’.
“Last year was a monumental one for us that incorporated both consolidation and growth. We strengthened our position as the Kingdom’s most significant real estate developer, launching new projects and sales tranches to existing projects,” explains David Grover, Group Chief Executive Officer of ROSHN. “We have seen strong market demand for all these launches, already reaching sales of over 7,000 homes. It was also a year of growth as we began our expansion into a range of new real estate verticals, including commercial and retail, leisure and entertainment, hospitality, knowledge hubs, warehousing and logistics.”
This expansion will further enable them to integrate vital lifestyle amenities into their projects even more efficiently and effectively, while also contributing to their Vision 2030 commitment to diversify the economy by empowering new economic sectors, supporting local content and creating new jobs. To date, the company has launched five projects in three regions: SEDRA and WAREFA in Riyadh, MARAFY and ALAROUS in Jeddah and ALFULWA in Al Hofuf.
In 2022, SEDRA welcomed its first residents to their homes, two years ahead of schedule and they have now launched three sales phases for SEDRA, bringing more homes to the market supported by facilities for education, sports, mosques and community centres. They also broke ground on WAREFA last October and have more than 2,000 units for sale. In Jeddah, ALAROUS phase 1A sales launched, offering 2,346 homes.
“As we look ahead to the rest of 2024, we are confident our momentum is building with all our projects scheduled for further development. We look forward to continuing and accelerating our progress on these developments as we ready ourselves for new announcements,” Grover highlights.
ROSHN’s flagship project SEDRA has rapidly become Riyadh’s most desirable community with unprecedented interest in the sales launch at every phase. Following the success of Phase 1, Phase 2 contributed additional beautifully designed homes to SEDRA, all of which have sold out. Building on this momentum, sales for Phase 3 launched this past October, introducing more units in the initial sales tranche and are also quickly selling out. Phase 3 will ultimately add more homes to the vibrant and growing community. In total, SEDRA is being developed in eight phases and will add more than 30,000 residential units to Riyadh’s housing stock, constructed over 30 million square metres of integrated neighbourhoods. Once complete, SEDRA is poised to provide homes for an estimated 74,000 citizens, further solidifying its role as a transformative force in Riyadh’s urban landscape.
Situated close to SEDRA, ROSHN’s acquisition and rebranding of ROSHN Front, the largest single real estate deal in Saudi Arabia in eight years, emphasizes their dedication to creating holistic and sustainable communities that enrich the lives of those who reside, work and play within them.
“ROSHN Front will complement the array of amenities being developed in SEDRA by offering residents and visitors an integrated, mixed-use lifestyle, retail and F&B destination of approximately 80,000sq m, which welcomes over 10 million visitors annually. It will feature world-class modal workspaces, including one kilometre of walking promenades and green spaces and state-of-the-art facilities such as a fitness centre, a four-star hotel and meeting rooms, as well as conference halls,” comments Grover.
At the heart of ROSHN’s communities is a new era of community living, founded on offering both residents and visitors a rich array of integrated, accessible and life-enhancing amenities. Ultimately, their projects are about ensuring everything their residents need for healthy, fulfilling lives is only a few steps from their homes and readily within reach.
Ensuring their new way of living is accessible is one of the core tenets of ROSHN’s approach and for them, connectivity is a vital component. Grover highlights that, at a fundamental level, every project is designed to be fully integrated with the city around it, becoming a new nexus for that city and ensuring their community residents can readily access important locations such as airports, hospitals and financial districts. “In the case of a project like MARAFY and its grand canal, we are also able to offer exciting water-born transport modes including ferries and taxis to connect the development’s own districts to locations in Jeddah including the international airport.”
The business is committed to developments that have a uniquely Saudi design standing in harmony with their surroundings both manmade and natural. Every project they launch has a unique visual aesthetic that marries designs inspired by local architectural heritage with modern materials and technologies. This means that their projects in Jeddah, Riyadh and Al Hofuf are united by their focus on quality of life, human interaction and sustainability but are far from ‘cookie cutter’ in their appearance. Each one will have a unique identity that ties it to its specific surroundings and regional heritage.
“At ROSHN our projects’ success is founded on the quality of our offering, our position as a national champion, the trust placed in us to deliver and the commitment of our dedicated employees to consistently achieve the best results,” comments Grover. “This aside, our top priority remains to fulfil our mandate to enable the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals by boosting quality of life across the Kingdom and contributing to economic diversification and growth.”
