Projects
New Murabba Riyadh: What Buyers Can Expect
New Murabba is the most ambitious urban project in Riyadh: a purpose-built downtown district planned around roughly 104,000 residential units, 9,000 hotel rooms and about 980,000 square metres of retail. It is also one of the nine designated foreign ownership zones for the capital, which makes it directly relevant to international buyers. What it is not, yet, is somewhere you can buy a home.
Project snapshot
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | New Murabba Development Company, a Public Investment Fund subsidiary |
| Location | Northwest of central Riyadh |
| Homes planned | Around 104,000 residential units |
| Hospitality | Around 9,000 hotel rooms |
| Retail | Roughly 980,000 square metres |
| Landmark | The Mukaab, a planned cube of around 400 metres |
| Ownership status | Designated foreign ownership zone |
| Status | Early delivery; long-horizon programme |
The designated zone status matters
When the Geographic Zones Document was approved in June 2026, Riyadh received nine designated zones for non-Saudi ownership, and New Murabba is one of them, alongside KAFD, Diriyah Gate, SEDRA, Qiddiya, King Salman Park, the Sports Boulevard and arts district, King Salman International Airport and a transit-oriented development site.
For a foreign buyer that is genuinely significant. It means that when residential product does come to market here, eligibility is already settled rather than uncertain. The framework is covered in our guide to the designated ownership zones.
The timeline, stated honestly
This is the part a buyer most needs, and it is the part marketing material tends to skip.
Progress is real but early. New Murabba appointed an infrastructure lead design consultant for phase one in January 2026, covering core utilities and mobility networks. That is foundational work, and doing it properly first is the correct order.
The Mukaab is paused. Reporting indicates construction of the landmark cube was suspended in January 2026 while the wider programme is sequenced.
The horizon has extended. Reporting points to significant completion moving toward 2040 rather than the original timeline, with a construction pace described as deliberate.
None of that makes the project a poor one. Districts of this scale routinely reorder their sequencing, and prioritising utilities and mobility ahead of a landmark structure is a defensible engineering decision. But it does mean New Murabba is a long-term proposition, not near-term inventory, and anyone presenting it as an immediate buying opportunity should be questioned closely.
What this means if you are buying now
There is very little to buy here today. If someone is marketing New Murabba residential units to you, ask for the Wafi licence reference for the specific project and phase, and verify it independently. No licence means no legitimate off-plan sale. The mechanics are in how Wafi escrow works, and the same three-question test we set out for NEOM applies equally here.
Where the buyable supply actually is. Riyadh has real, licensed, escrow-protected stock in the other designated zones: KAFD is built and occupied, SEDRA has been handing over since 2022, and Diriyah began residential handovers in late 2026. Those are places you can inspect, price and complete on.
Watch it as an infrastructure signal. A new downtown district taking shape northwest of the city centre will reshape values around it long before it is finished. That is useful information for deciding where to buy today, even if you buy somewhere else entirely. Our Riyadh area guide and north Riyadh guide cover the districts in its orbit.
The sensible read
New Murabba is best treated as a reason to be confident about Riyadh’s long-term trajectory rather than a place to transact this year. The capital is committing to a new downtown with six figures of housing capacity and has already made it eligible for foreign ownership. That is a strong signal about where the city is going.
When residential sales open properly, they will open through licensed, verifiable channels, and there will be no need to hear about it first from an unsolicited approach. Until then, browse what is actually available on our projects page and work through the process in the off-plan buying guide.
Timelines and scope in giga-scale programmes change. Verify current status directly with official sources before making any decision.
References
Project details in this guide are drawn from public developer disclosures, official Saudi sources and contemporaneous press reporting, current as of September 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is New Murabba?
New Murabba is a planned downtown district northwest of central Riyadh, developed by New Murabba Development Company, a Public Investment Fund subsidiary. The masterplan provides for around 104,000 residential units, 9,000 hotel rooms and roughly 980,000 square metres of retail space.
Can foreigners buy property in New Murabba?
New Murabba is one of the nine designated foreign ownership zones named for Riyadh in June 2026, so it is eligible in principle. In practice there is very little completed residential product to buy yet, so eligibility currently matters more for the future than for today.
What is the Mukaab?
The Mukaab is the project's cube-shaped landmark, planned at around 400 metres with roughly 2 million square metres of floor space combining hospitality, retail, cultural and residential uses. Reporting indicates its construction was suspended in January 2026 while the wider programme is sequenced.
When will New Murabba be finished?
Reporting points to significant completion extending toward 2040 rather than the original horizon. Phase one infrastructure design was commissioned in January 2026. Treat it as a long-term district taking shape over more than a decade rather than as near-term inventory.