Dubai has announced a landmark AED100 billion expansion of the Dubai International Financial Centre, known as the DIFC Zabeel District. The project will double the capacity of the current financial hub to accommodate over 42,000 companies and 125,000 employees by 2040. Spanning 17.7 million square feet, the development includes a major focus on AI and future technologies, alongside residential and educational facilities.
Saudi Arabia's General Real Estate Authority has launched the long-awaited Real Estate Ownership System for Non-Saudi Nationals, effective from 22 January 2026. This new regulatory framework allows residents, non-residents, and international companies to own property across the Kingdom via the "Saudi Properties" digital portal. While major cities like Riyadh and Jeddah are included, specific restrictions remain for Makkah and Madinah to protect their unique status.
PropTech firm Visitt has secured $22 million in Series B funding to accelerate its AI-driven property operations platform. Led by Susquehanna Growth Equity, the investment follows a massive period of growth in which the company saw its managed square footage increase by over 900 per cent in 2025. The new capital will be used to develop further AI agents and scale its customer support teams to meet rising demand across the industrial, office and retail sectors.
Blackstone Energy Transition Partners has agreed to acquire the American electrical manufacturer Arlington Industries. The deal, announced in late January, sees the global investment giant take control of a company with a 75-year history of producing fittings and enclosures. Arlington's products are central to the infrastructure of data centres and industrial facilities across the United States.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation has launched its Unscripted by Hyatt brand on a global scale through a landmark agreement with Indochina Kajima. Six existing Wink hotels across Vietnam have joined the new portfolio, more than doubling Hyatt's footprint in the country from four to ten properties. These locations include major cities and emerging hubs such as Saigon, Danang, and Can Tho.
Saudi Arabia has officially opened the Hexagon Data Center in Riyadh, which is now the largest government-owned facility of its kind in the world. Classified as Tier IV, the center is a major part of the Saudi Data and AI Authority’s (SDAIA) plan to support Saudi Vision 2030. The facility spans 30 million square feet and possesses a power capacity of 480 MW. It aims to secure technical sovereignty over national data while helping to move the economy away from a reliance on oil.
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