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I build the machinery that turns land into capital. For more than 20 years across Saudi Arabia and the GCC, my work has been in real estate investment, development, asset management and capital markets. Over that time I’ve learned that how an asset is structured decides its value more than the asset itself does. Fund structures, transaction architecture, operating platforms and governance are what let a land bank be monetised again and again rather than sold once. Today I lead investment, development and asset management at Thakher Development Company, a Makkah master developer. There I have: • Structured real estate funds exceeding SAR 5 billion, including Shariah-compliant vehicles with tier-one Saudi capital managers • Closed hospitality and bulk land transactions exceeding SAR 3 billion • Authored the corporate strategy and built the operating platform that executes it Before Thakher, I was a founding executive at Al Balad Development, where I directed a SAR 4 billion acquisition programme for Jeddah Historical District. Earlier roles were at Jabal Omar, the Islamic Development Bank Group (ICD), Ernst & Young and SABB. Working on every side of the table (developer, lender, fund manager, advisor and trader) shaped how I think: start from first principles, and get the structure right before the numbers. Talk to me about building or restructuring a real estate business: the product, the operating model, the organization, or the capital.
• Directed the acquisition program for a SAR 4 billion real estate portfolio, from origination and valuation through board approval and funding. • Led a development pipeline comprising a 40,000 sqm mixed-use scheme, 45,000 sqm of parking assets, and hospitality and residential projects of 6,000 sqm each. • Established the development and asset management function from zero — organization design, hiring, policies and procedures, and the supporting IT and reporting architecture. • Co-authored the company's 10-year strategy, business plan and KPI framework, and owned project costing and revenue forecasting within the annual budget cycle. • Founded the hotel operating company mandated to operate all heritage hotels in the historical district, and selected and appointed the hospitality operator for a 160-key hotel cluster. • Commissioned the enterprise asset database and a financial model forecasting and monitoring the performance of a 400-asset portfolio; set the district-wide retail strategy.
• Central contributor to the Jeddah Historical District masterplan and its feasibility study, and to the establishment of Al Balad Development Company as the areas master developer — corporate structure, processes, policies and hiring. • Directed the valuation of 1,400+ assets designated for expropriation and the ensuing expropriation analysis and process.• Authored the district parking strategy — supply-demand analysis, site identification and financial modelling — and initiated projects delivering circa 3,500 bays. • Originated Al Shona Gardens (4,400 sqm heritage plot; boutique hotel, fine dining and retail) and delivered Culture Square, a circa 12,000 sqm regeneration catalyst on Al Arbaeen Lagoon comprising a 1,700-seat cinema and a digital arts museum. • Negotiated leases and operating agreements with Famp;B, hotel and cinema operators; established standard leasing contracts for heritage and non-heritage stock.
• Led the masterplan revision and development feasibility for new project phases — circa 3,000 residential units across multiple towers and a seven-star hotel overlooking the Holy Mosque. • Structured real estate development and income funds over hospitality assets, including financial modelling, investor materials and securing investment bank interest. • Converted a hotel tower into a retail investment product through the sale of hotel units to individual investors.• Ran the lease-versus-operate analysis for the hotel portfolio and secured a lease with a major hospitality operator; contributed to the structuring of a sukuk transaction; owned company acquisitions and disposals.
• Co-managed a USD 250 million income fund with diversified sector and geographic allocation across equity and debt. • Structured and incorporated three investment funds and authored their investment guidelines and due diligence processes. • Originated and managed debt investments into real estate development and operating companies across KSA and other member countries; ran the full deal cycle from sourcing to financing.