Property Giant Hines to Expand into Booming #Saudi Arabian Market - Bloomberg

Property Giant Hines to Expand into Booming Saudi Arabian Market - Bloomberg

Real estate giant Hines plans to expand into Saudi Arabia next year, aiming to tap one of the Middle East’s busiest development and construction markets.

The Houston-based developer and investment manager, which oversees about $92 billion in assets, is recruiting staff for a new Riyadh office and relocating executives to the kingdom, the company said in a statement to Bloomberg News. Hines will focus on industrial, office and mixed-use projects.

Saudi Arabia has introduced a series of measures to cool surging property prices and spur construction of homes, offices, hotels and logistics facilities. The government has quadrupled the tax on vacant land in high priority areas to 10% of its value each year, encouraging owners to build or sell. Riyadh has also imposed a five-year rent freeze to keep housing affordable for citizens and new residents who are moving to the kingdom.

Together, these steps are expected to boost the supply of land — creating new opportunities for Hines and its peers to invest, develop and manage real estate assets in the kingdom.

“Establishing a stronger presence in the region allows us to bring our global expertise in placemaking, sustainable value creation and innovation to projects that will deliver lasting impact,” said Laura Hines-Pierce, the firm’s co-chief executive officer.

Steve Luthman, Hines’ global head of real estate, will lead the company’s operations across the Middle East, while global Chief Investment Officer David Steinbach will continue to oversee investment activity, the firm said.

The Saudi expansion builds on Hines’ existing presence in Dubai, where it opened an office in 2020 just as the city turned the page on a seven-year property slump and started what became one of its longest running rallies.

That rebound has attracted a wave of institutional investors, from Brookfield Corp. to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Asia-based Hillhouse Investment. Others are scouting deals across the Gulf. Mapletree Investments Pte, owned by Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte, opened an Abu Dhabi office to expand its global property footprint in the region.

The late Texas billionaire Gerald Hines founded his eponymous firm in 1957 and earned a reputation as one of world’s top developers, constructing eye-catching structures such as the Lipstick Building in Manhattan as well as skyscrapers that transformed Houston’s skyline in the 1970s and 1980s.