IRHM, Your Global Window into Real Estate and Hospitality

August 18, 2026

Partnership

Global real estate firm JLL has agreed to acquire a significant stake in the Saudi Facility Management Company (FMTECH), a firm established by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) in 2023. The PIF will remain the majority shareholder. This strategic transaction aims to enhance the facilities management sector in Saudi Arabia by combining the PIF's market scale with JLL's advanced operational and technological expertise, specifically JLL’s digital facility management platforms.
Saudi Arabia is moving ahead with its plans for Advanced Air Mobility with the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) signing an agreement with US-based Archer Aviation. The collaboration aims to develop a regulatory path for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air taxis in the Kingdom. The first routes are expected to connect Riyadh and Jeddah, and service the nation’s giga-projects like Red Sea Global.
Real Finance, a Layer-1 blockchain network focused on the tokenisation of real-world assets (RWAs), has raised a total of $29 million in private funding. The capital includes a $25 million commitment from Nimbus Capital and a $4 million private round led by Magnus Capital. The financing is a major step in the company's strategy to expand its compliance-ready infrastructure and accelerate the onboarding of institutional financial partners.
Brookfield and Qai, the AI subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority, have announced a $20 billion strategic joint venture focused on artificial intelligence infrastructure. The partnership will develop fully integrated AI facilities in Qatar to support its burgeoning digital ecosystem. The Integrated Compute centre is set to expand high-performance compute access regionally, aligning with Qatar’s ambition to become a major AI hub in the Middle East, advancing its National Vision 2030.
IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed a key management agreement with a SEDCO Capital-managed investment fund for the Hotel Indigo Grand Square Jeddah, marking a significant entry into the Kingdom's growing lifestyle travel segment. This 150-key hotel will serve as the core hospitality component of the Grand Square mixed-use project, a major urban development integrating retail and office spaces.
The Inter-American Development Bank Group and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean have launched a joint data platform to address housing shortages and urban development issues in Latin America and the Caribbean. Named Housing and Urban Intelligence, the platform is the region’s first integrated data hub of its kind, launched with support from the OECD. The platform provides over 3,000 indicators, 18 country profiles, and information from more than 500 official sources.

In Focus

Latest