Sector Lead Foreword

ForewordCan the boom in real estate development and investment in the GCC continue from 2022 into 2023 and beyond?Contents

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Law Update: Issue 359 - Real Estate & Construction and Hotels & Leisure

Welcome to this
month’s Law Update

‘Can it last?’, the question we were all asking ourselves last year around this time. Can the boom in real estate development and investment in the GCC continue from 2022 into 2023 and beyond? Well, it seems that it can, and it has.

Developers, advisers and investors have seen another busy year. Appetite for investment into the UAE seems to be bottomless. The construction market in KSA seems to be hoovering up consultants (and materials) with the country charging towards Vision 2030 with real focus and determination.

Patterns are emerging. In the UAE grade A assets are increasingly few and far between which puts a break on the scalability for global money. Office space (which is a class heading for junk status in many markets) is now hot property and a target for investors. Finally, Abu Dhabi is emerging both as a center for ‘destination tourism’ and extensive residential development.

In KSA we are seeing increasing focus by the private sector on quality development and KAFD is slowly coming into its own as a financial hub (with our own office moving there in December of this year).

In the hospitality sector, new brands are entering regionally and there are an increasing number of large transactions with announcements of the purchase and sale of well-known hotels across the region being almost a daily occurrence (a number of which have kept our hospitality team very busy this year).

In this Law Update we have tried to do something a little bit different. I have included two market focused pieces. One, an interview with one of Knight Frank's best known brokers to explore where we see the regional market right now. Further, we have a deep dive with Henry Sutton, Founder of the Gulf Data Centre Association, discussing where the regional data centre market is at now, where it came from and where it's going.

Along with these, we have tried to discuss issues we are seeing day to day at the moment, corporate structuring, increasing numbers of construction disputes and hotel developments. Probably most importantly as the region's largest law firm, we have tried to paint a picture from across our network by including articles from our new real estate team in Oman, as well as Abu Dhabi and the Northern Emirates of the UAE.

We hope you enjoy the interviews and content and please feel free to be in touch with any of our team if you need our advice or assistance.