Orientation
Most clients begin with the place, not the plan. On Qetaifan Island North, that place is already open for business, even though nobody lives there yet.
Qetaifan Island North is a 1.3 million square metre man-made island off the northeast coast of Lusail, developed by Qetaifan Projects, a subsidiary of Katara Hospitality set up in 2017. It is the company’s first and flagship island. What is unusual about it is the order of arrival: the leisure economy came before the homes. Meryal Waterpark, Qatar’s largest, soft-opened in November 2023, and the five-star Rixos Premium resort with its Azure beach club opened in the same quarter. The residences are still rising.
That makes this a district you cannot yet read as a place to live. The island trades today on hotel guests and day visitors, busiest in the cooler October to May season, and the rhythm is a resort’s rather than a neighbourhood’s. Every residential project here is off-plan, led by the two Elie Saab branded projects we list, with the first handovers cited from 2027. You are buying into a build-out, and the honest version of this guide says so on the first page.
The island sits inside Lusail, one of the designated zones where non-Qataris can hold full freehold title under Law 16 of 2018. It is bridge-connected to the mainland, so the waterpark, the promenade and the retail are walkable within the island, but a car remains necessary for schools, offices and daily errands. We walk you through exactly what is open, what is still a render, and where the ownership line sits, before you commit to anything.
- District type
- Resort and off-plan island
- Stock
- Off-plan branded residences
- Pace
- Under construction, homes from 2027
- Waterfront access
- Direct, island-wide
- Lusail Stadium
- About 10 minutes
- Airport
- About 35 minutes
Life here
A resort island, ahead of its residents.
Today the island keeps a hotel’s hours, not a household’s.
The current day here belongs to visitors: waterpark queues in the morning, the beach club through the afternoon, dining on the promenade after dark, all of it strongly seasonal and centred on the cooler months. The three notes below are what the island genuinely offers now, stated as what it is rather than what the brochures promise for later.
The water
Meryal Waterpark holds more than 36 slides and the 85 metre Rig 1938 tower, which carries two Guinness World Records including the world’s tallest waterslide. It is the island’s anchor and its busiest address.
The beach
Rixos Premium Qetaifan Island North runs a private beach and the Azure beach club, an all-inclusive five-star operation that opened in late 2023 and sets the island’s hospitality register today.
The everyday
Waterside Retail lines the promenade with 92 units of dining and shops, and Lusail’s malls and marina sit a short drive over the bridge. Schools and offices, though, are all off the island.
Developments here
A short, honest shelf.
We list a select few developments in any market, the ones we would put a client into ourselves, not a full portal of inventory. On this island that is a short shelf by design: the two Elie Saab branded projects. For anything else being launched on Qetaifan, talk to the desk directly.
Qatar · Doha · Qetaifan Island North
L'Horizon by Elie Saab
L'Horizon by Elie Saab is an off-plan apartment collection on Qetaifan Island North, delivered by Dar Global with interiors by Elie Saab Maison. Freehold, from a guide of around GBP 430,000.
Qatar · Doha · Qetaifan Island North
Les Vagues by Elie Saab
An Elie Saab branded address on Qetaifan Island North, off Lusail. Sea-front one to three bedroom apartments by Dar Global, freehold, from a guide of around GBP 410,000 on a Qatari riyal basis.
Off the listings
The island is early, and much of its stock moves through the developer, not a portal.
Tell us what you are after and we will tell you what is actually being released, including allocations that do not reach a listing site.
Ask what’s availableA closer reading
How to read Qetaifan Island North.
A working brief on the island: where it came from, what you can actually buy, and how the timing sits against the wider Doha market. About 8 minutes.
Reviewed by The Omnia Doha desk · July 2026
etaifan Island North is easiest to understand as a leisure destination that is growing a residential district on top of itself, in that order. The island opened its waterpark and its beach resort before a single home was handed over, so its economy today is measured in day tickets and hotel nights, not service charges. To read it as an investment is to hold two clocks at once: the one already running on the leisure side, and the slower one still counting down to the first residential handover in 2027.
The island, and how it arrived
Qetaifan Projects was founded in 2017, a subsidiary of Katara Hospitality, to build the Qetaifan Islands off Lusail. The North island, roughly 1.3 million square metres, is its first development. The island’s coming-out moment was the FIFA World Cup in 2022, when it hosted a fan village of 1,800 tents and a beach festival, with water taxis shuttling fans to Lusail Stadium five kilometres away. That gave a brand-new island global exposure before its permanent life had begun.
The leisure anchors landed in late 2023. Rixos Premium Qetaifan Island North opened in the fourth quarter, and Meryal Waterpark soft-opened on 29 November 2023, giving the island a functioning economy well ahead of any resident moving in. Momentum then broadened beyond the founding developer: in February 2025, Taameer Properties acquired seven seafront and inland plots and unveiled Carlton House, a 316-unit residential project on the island’s western waterfront, a sign that the island is now more than one company’s showcase.
A leisure destination growing a neighbourhood on top of itself. The economy is running before the residents arrive.
What you are actually buying
What you buy today is off-plan branded residences. Nothing on the island is available as completed resale stock yet. We list the island’s two Elie Saab projects, both developed by DarGlobal with Qetaifan Projects. Les Vagues by Elie Saab is 348 one to three-bedroom apartments across four low-rise buildings on the marina promenade, with completion cited for the second quarter of 2027. L’Horizon by Elie Saab is around 300 residences, from one-bedroom apartments to four-bedroom villas with private pools, from 80 to 400 square metres, with brokers citing handover between late 2027 and December 2028, so the date should be confirmed with the developer.
Tenure is freehold for foreign buyers because the island sits inside the Lusail designated zone under Law 16 of 2018, and typical off-plan terms run around 20% down with staged instalments through construction. On price there is no Qetaifan-specific index yet, so the reads come from the district around it: Lusail apartments averaged QAR 10,330 per square metre in the first quarter of 2026 (ValuStrat), while Lusail Waterfront, the most expensive apartment district in Qatar, reached QAR 15,131 per square metre in the second quarter of 2025 (Knight Frank). Branded stock here is priced against that top tier, with island one-beds asking from about QAR 2.08m, roughly US$572,000, on developer and broker listings across 2025 and 2026.
Where it is going
The first delivery wave is 2027 to 2028: Les Vagues cited for the second quarter of 2027, L’Horizon between late 2027 and December 2028 depending on the source. Until those hand over, the island’s population is hotel guests, not homeowners. The pipeline widened in February 2025 with Taameer’s seven-plot acquisition and the Carlton House launch, and Qetaifan Projects has continued marketing phase-two elements, a linear park, a souq and a retail plaza, at Cityscape Qatar 2025.
The macro backdrop is real but two-sided. Qatar residential sales reached QAR 26.6bn across 6,831 deals in 2025, up 43.5% in value year on year (Knight Frank, via Arab News, January 2026), and ValuStrat describes a stable, maturing market in early 2026 with Lusail apartments up 1.5%. Yet villa prices nationally eased about 1% in 2025, and the market is still absorbing a legacy oversupply. The case here is neither speculative nor certain. It is a leisure island with a functioning economy, opening its residential chapter at a moment of national momentum, which is a position to understand slowly rather than to rush.
Who it's for
Start with why the island appeals to you.
Tell us which sounds like you, and an advisor tailors the guide, the projects and the numbers to your situation.
The investor
An off-plan entry, staged.
Branded residences on staged payment plans, priced against Lusail’s top tier. We show you the cited handover dates and the risks in plain terms.
- Off-plan
- Staged terms
- 2027 handovers
The residency buyer
A purchase that carries a visa.
Both Elie Saab projects clear the QAR 730,000 residency threshold. We map which permit applies and confirm the codified terms before you commit.
- Residency route
- Freehold
- GCC and global
The lifestyle buyer
A resort address on the water.
A branded home beside an open waterpark and beach club, with resort services on the doorstep. Best understood as seasonal for now, not year-round.
- Resort living
- Waterfront
- Branded
Two minutes
Get a shortlist matched to your brief.
Two projects on the island, read honestly, with pricing and the timing risk. A person replies, not an autoresponder.
What to know
The practical part, before you look.
Qatar is more straightforward to own in than its reputation suggests, and the island sits inside a full-freehold zone. Here is the honest version: what the nearest price reads show, why there is no island-level index yet, and how the ownership and residency rules are checked before you commit.
Ownership & rules
- Who can own
- Foreign buyers of any nationality can own in designated zones under Law 16 of 2018: nine freehold areas, The Pearl-Qatar, West Bay Lagoon and Al Khor Resort among them, plus sixteen further areas held on 99-year usufruct. The zones are fixed by Cabinet decision, so we confirm a specific building against the official record rather than relying on the neighbourhood name.
- What you hold
- Freehold title registered in your own name inside the freehold zones, including the established stock on The Pearl-Qatar and the new districts of Lusail. In the usufruct areas you hold a renewable 99-year registered right rather than the land itself. We state which applies before you view.
- Residency
- Property worth at least QAR 730,000, about US$200,000, opens a renewable residence permit for you and your family. From QAR 3.65m, about US$1m, you can apply for permanent residency under Law 10 of 2018, subject to conditions and an annual cap. Both routes hold only while the qualifying ownership is maintained.
- Taxes
- A registration fee of about 0.25% of the price on purchase, and that is broadly the headline cost. Qatar levies no annual property tax, no personal income tax and no individual capital gains tax, and there is no VAT at present. Verify your home-country position independently.
- Letting
- Long lets are the established route, supported by corporate tenant demand in West Bay and a settled international community on The Pearl. Short-stay letting sits under Qatar Tourism licensing, and branded residences often carry in-house rental management. We map what a specific building permits before you bank on rental income.
What it costs to buy
- Lusail apartment sales average, the district read for the islandValuStrat, Q1 2026, up 1.5% year on year. No Qetaifan-specific index is published yet
- QAR 10,330 per m²
- Lusail Waterfront, the top tier branded stock is priced againstKnight Frank, Q2 2025. Qatar apartment average QAR 13,270 per m²
- QAR 15,131 per m²
- Qatar residential sales in 2025, up 43.5% by valueAcross 6,831 deals, up 50% in volume. Knight Frank via Arab News, January 2026
- QAR 26.6bn
Rules and figures reflect the framework as last verified on 2 July 2026 and can change. Your advisor confirms the current position, and eligibility for a specific building, before you commit.
Where it sits
Off Lusail’s coast, with Doha in reach.
- Lusail Stadium
- 10 min, about 5 km
- Place Vendôme Mall, Lusail
- About 12 minutes
- Lusail Boulevard and Marina
- About 15 minutes
- Katara Cultural Village
- About 20 minutes
- West Bay, Doha CBD
- About 25 minutes
- Hamad International Airport
- About 35 minutes
On the island
- Meryal Waterpark and the Rig 1938 slide tower
- Rixos Premium resort and Azure beach club
- Lusail Stadium, the 2022 World Cup final venue
- Place Vendôme Mall and Lusail Boulevard
- Waterside Retail promenade, 92 units
The wider picture
The city
Doha
Lusail is Qatar’s planned city north of central Doha, built around the 2022 World Cup and now filling in with marinas, boulevards and waterfront districts. Qetaifan Island North is its leisure island, a short bridge from the mainland grid.
Read the city guide
The country
Qatar
Open to foreign freehold ownership inside designated zones, with a property-linked residency route. For property in Qatar, we map the zones, the residency thresholds and the off-plan timing before anything else.
Read the market guideFrom the desks
Read around Doha.
Investor guides
Can foreigners own property in Qatar?
Freehold is permitted in designated districts including the Pearl and Lusail, with usufruct rights elsewhere.
Ownership · QatarRead
Investor guides
The cost of buying property in Doha
Transfer fees, agency and service charges at the Pearl and Lusail: a clear all-in picture.
Costs · QatarRead
Investor guides
Residency by investment in Qatar
How ownership above set thresholds grants renewable residency, and, importantly, what it does not.
Residency · QatarReadReports
Qatar property price forecast 2026.
A 2026 read on the Qatar property market: residential sales value up 43.5% in 2025 while prices eased, gross yields near 5.9%, a resilient prime tier, and the new 10-year residency permit.
QatarRead
Frequently asked
Before you enquire.
Can foreign buyers own property on Qetaifan Island North outright?
Yes. The Qetaifan Islands sit within Lusail, one of the nine zones where non-Qataris can hold full freehold title under Law 16 of 2018 and Cabinet Decision 28 of 2020. Title must be registered with the Real Estate Registration Department at the Ministry of Justice to be enforceable. We confirm eligibility on a specific building against the official record before you proceed.
Does buying here qualify me for Qatari residency?
Under the current framework, a purchase of at least QAR 730,000, about US$200,000, qualifies for a renewable residence permit tied to ownership, and investments above QAR 3.65m, about US$1m, can qualify for permanent-residency-style benefits including access to health and education services. Both Elie Saab projects start above the lower threshold. Confirm the current terms at purchase, as brokers quote varying residency packages.
What can I actually buy on the island right now?
Off-plan branded residences only. We list the island’s two Elie Saab projects: Les Vagues, 348 one to three-bed apartments across four buildings, cited completion in the second quarter of 2027, and L’Horizon, about 300 residences from one-bed apartments to four-bed villas with private pools. Entry pricing starts around QAR 2.1m for a one-bedroom.
Is the island finished, or am I buying into a construction site?
The leisure layer is open and trading: the Rixos Premium resort opened in the fourth quarter of 2023, Meryal Waterpark soft-opened in November 2023, and the Azure beach club is running. The residential layer is entirely under construction, with first handovers cited from 2027. Expect an active build-out around you in the early years of ownership.
What do prices and yields look like against the rest of Doha?
There is no Qetaifan-specific price index yet. The nearest reads: Lusail apartments averaged QAR 10,330 per square metre in the first quarter of 2026 (ValuStrat), while Qatar’s priciest apartment district, Lusail Waterfront, reached QAR 15,131 per square metre in the second quarter of 2025 (Knight Frank). ValuStrat measured Qatar-wide gross apartment yields around 8.4% in early 2025, so treat developer projections above that range as marketing, not evidence.
Who is the rental market once the residences complete?
The island’s demand engine is leisure: waterpark visitors, resort guests and event weekends, which points to short-stay and seasonal letting supported by the Rixos operation, plus Lusail professionals wanting a resort address. There is no operating rental track record on the island yet, so underwrite conservatively.
Are there property taxes or capital gains taxes in Qatar?
Qatar levies no annual property tax, no personal income tax on individuals, and no capital gains tax on personal property sales. A registration fee applies at transfer. Tax treatment in your home country is a separate matter, so take advice on both sides before committing.
Private client advisory, GCC
The Omnia Doha desk
We start with the island and the timing, not a unit. On an off-plan island the honest read is the handover date and the risk around it, which is where we begin.
Start with the area
Let's start with Qetaifan Island North, not the apartment.
Tell us how you would use it. We will send the Qetaifan Island North guide, the buildings worth seeing, and an honest read on where ownership stands.