Al Khuwair Downtown: a RO 150 million partner for Muscat's new central district

At MIPIM 2026 in Cannes on 15 March, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning announced 17 investment and development agreements worth more than RO 762 million. Two concerned Al Khuwair Downtown: a memorandum of understanding with Türkiye's Artas Holding with investment exceeding RO 150 million, and a strategic cooperation agreement with OGCC Global to explore development opportunities in the same district. The partnership was reaffirmed at the Oman Real Estate, Design and Construction Exhibition in Muscat in May.

The same event brought a RO 320 million-plus agreement with Saudi developer Retal for neighbourhoods 3, 15 and 17 of Sultan Haitham City, RO 25 million from Vogue Homes Portugal for Al Thuraya City, and a RO 40 million-plus hospital agreement for Ibn Al Haitham Hospital.

Al Khuwair Downtown is the ministry's plan to turn the Al Khuwair waterfront into a modern economic and urban hub for the capital, one of the Future Cities programme projects alongside Sultan Haitham City and Al Thuraya City. Reporting describes a mixed residential and commercial waterfront scheme with a marina, a cultural centre and a leisure park. The Greater Muscat Structure Plan and the Al Khuwair Downtown master plan were announced as the first Middle East members of the Global Business Districts Innovation Club.

An MOU is a statement of intent. The steps that produce construction work are the development agreement, the master developer's design team appointment, plot infrastructure packages and then building packages. Each stage is a tender. Consultants who want the supervision and cost roles, and contractors who want the enabling and infrastructure packages, should be positioning now, while the design is being scoped.

For owners of nearby property in Al Khuwair and Shatti Al Qurum, a central business district changes land values and the case for redevelopment. It is a feasibility input for any plot within reach of the plan.