For much of the last decade, Saudi’s real estate narrative has been dominated by Riyadh’s institutional pull and a pipeline of giga projects that captured headlines. What has changed in recent months is the rhythm of launches and the type of product now being prioritised in Jeddah. The city is shifting from being viewed primarily as a domestic coastal centre to being positioned as a lifestyle destination with a residential proposition that can be sold internationally.
That shift is showing up in the pipeline. Over the past week alone, we have covered a dense run of launches across the Kingdom in depth, including Trump Plaza Jeddah in the newly announced (January 12th) AMAYA development. The investor appetite we have experienced has been considerable, and it has been concentrated around one category more than any other. Branded residential product.
At a glance
- Midad confirms a SAR 7.6bn JV at Jeddah Central with JCDC and Kerzner
- Atlantis Jeddah and One&Only Jeddah on the waterfront
- Both include branded residences and private homes
- Another clear signal that Jeddah’s branded residential cycle is accelerating
Atlantis Jeddah Private Residences at Jeddah Central
Midad Real Estate has confirmed a SAR 7.6 billion joint venture at Jeddah Central with Jeddah Central Development Company and Kerzner International. The partnership will deliver Atlantis Jeddah on the waterfront as part of the wider Jeddah Central regeneration, introducing the Atlantis brand to Saudi Arabia for the first time.
Atlantis Jeddah is planned as a destination scale resort anchored by the brand’s signature leisure and entertainment model, with a collection of branded private residences integrated into the development. The project is designed to combine high energy resort activation with full service residential living, positioning it as a lifestyle driven address rather than a conventional hospitality asset.
In residential terms, Atlantis plays a critical role. It drives footfall, visibility, and energy, creating a sense of place that supports both owner occupancy and long term desirability. Within a master planned waterfront district, this type of activation materially enhances the appeal of owning, not just visiting.
One&Only Jeddah Private Homes at Jeddah Central
Alongside Atlantis, the joint venture will deliver One&Only Jeddah, a more discreet ultra luxury counterpart within the same waterfront district. The project will include suites and villas, complemented by a dedicated private homes offering designed around the One&Only philosophy of privacy, service, and highly curated living.
One&Only Jeddah is positioned to appeal to a different buyer profile. Where Atlantis is outward facing and destination led, One&Only is inward facing and residential in character. We anticipate with One&Only the emphasis will be on exclusivity, low density living, and a tightly controlled lifestyle environment that prioritises discretion and long term ownership.
Why Residential Is the Point
In a market like Saudi Arabia, the residential layer is where the long term story is won.
Hotels announce ambition. Residences convert that ambition into ownership, community, and enduring value. Branded residences do something very specific, and it is the reason they are now the fastest moving segment of prime product across the region. They make a new market easier to buy.
We've had comparable experiences in other gulf markets as Oman, where branded residences offer international purchasers a reference point for quality and service. They lower perceived execution risk. They create a lifestyle promise that extends beyond the unit itself. And they tend to attract a buyer who is comfortable allocating earlier in a cycle, because the brand acts as a trust mechanism.
Jeddah right now offers an increasing share of demand, that is not yield first. It is positioning first.
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The Week That Captured the Mood
It is hard to overstate how quickly the narrative around Jeddah is firming up.
New branded launches are no longer isolated. They are appearing in clusters, across different developers and different districts, and they are being met with real demand. That matters because international interest is built as much by repetition as by any single announcement. When the market sees multiple global brands choosing the same city at the same time, it stops feeling experimental and starts feeling inevitable.
That is why the Atlantis and One&Only move lands so cleanly. It does not need to create the story on its own. It reinforces a story that is already building momentum.
Vision 2030 Is Turning Jeddah Into a Product
Jeddah Central is not simply a collection of buildings. It is a deliberate attempt to create a globally legible waterfront destination, aligned with Vision 2030’s push to expand tourism, diversify the economy, and upgrade lifestyle infrastructure.
The most important part of that for real estate is the shift from city development to destination development. Destination development is designed to be sold to non residents. It is designed to be visited, shared, and understood quickly by people who do not live there. That is why branded hospitality and branded residences are central to it. They translate the destination into something global buyers recognise.
In that context, Atlantis and One&Only are not decorative. They are functional. They help Jeddah Central compete for international attention and, more importantly, international wallets.
The Buyer Profile We Are Seeing
From firsthand experience, there is a cohort of buyers seeking prime coastal living in a market they believe is early in its pricing evolution. There is a cohort allocating strategic capital into state backed regeneration zones because the infrastructure trajectory is visible and long dated. There is a cohort of end users and second home buyers who want Saudi exposure but require a globally familiar operating environment.
That last point is where branded residences have real power. They reduce friction. They make a purchase feel safer. They remove some of the uncertainty that otherwise slows international decision making.
This is also why a large segment of the buyer base is not approaching Jeddah as a short duration trade. Many are allocating for growth, not income, and branded assets give them confidence to do that earlier.
Why These Brands Fit Jeddah
Jeddah’s advantages are obvious once you stop viewing it through a purely domestic lens. It is coastal. It has a strong cultural identity. It has natural lifestyle appeal. It is a gateway city.
Atlantis is engineered for destination scale appeal. It creates footfall, activity, and a sense of place. That has a direct impact on the livability and marketability of any surrounding residential stock.
One&Only does the opposite in the best way. It creates quiet exclusivity. It attracts a buyer who values privacy, service, and scarcity. In residential terms, that tends to support higher conviction purchasing and stronger long term defensibility for prime assets.
Together, they give Jeddah Central breadth. A district that offers both high energy resort living and ultra private luxury living can address a wider spectrum of demand without diluting positioning.
Combine these two with the healthy backdrop of other globally recognised names, including Four Seasons, Trump International and more and we're witnessing in real time a market that is attracting and maintaining heavyweight talent.
What This Signals for Jeddah’s Next Cycle
The headline is not that Jeddah is getting new hotels. The headline is that Jeddah is being underwritten as a global residential destination.
Midad’s Atlantis and One&Only move fits into a broader pattern now visible across Saudi. The market is leaning into branded living. It is leaning into products that international buyers can immediately understand. And it is leaning into districts that can be marketed as destinations, not just neighbourhoods.
Jeddah is benefiting from that shift more than most, because its lifestyle fundamentals do a lot of the work. The coast sells itself. The strategy now is to wrap that natural advantage in brands and master planning that global capital recognises.
If the current pace of launches is any indication, the branded cycle is not slowing. It is accelerating. Atlantis and One&Only are not the start of the story. They are confirmation that the story is real.
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Guy Watt
Omnia Research
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