Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Riyadh Region Municipality has opened bidding for a 30,015 sq m municipal plot in the north Riyadh district of Al-Narjis, the first site it has offered to private investors under a 50-year joint land investment agreement.
The municipality is running the tender with the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing and the National Center for Privatization & PPP (NCP), the Saudi Press Agency said on 3 November. Expressions of interest, prequalification and proposals are all being taken in a single phase, with the three steps running side by side.
The land sits on Zaid bin Asim Street. Planning rules for the site allow mixed-use development, covering residential, commercial, office and recreational facilities, and the announcement describes the location as strategic.
Whoever wins the contract will design, build, operate and maintain every facility on the plot for the whole 50-year term. The deal is structured as a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) contract, under which the developer owns and runs the asset before handing it back to the government.
The organisers said the aim is high-quality development that answers growing demand, serves residents and the wider community, and strengthens Riyadh's urban infrastructure. Pairing private capital and know-how with land the municipality already owns is meant to support both the delivery of the scheme and its management over the long term.
They also link the plot to wider efforts across the capital to expand public-private partnerships, get better use out of municipal land and support sustainable development of the city.
Al-Narjis is one of several municipal sites being offered to private developers under Saudi Arabia's public-private partnership programme. Other projects include a 50-year mixed-use development on a 166,488 sq m site along Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Road (Al-Hada Road) in Makkah, the 4 km King Fahd Suburb Boulevard mixed-use zone in Dammam, and the 84,657 sq m Sikkah Al Hadid development in Madinah, which includes plans for retail and healthcare facilities.
In Riyadh, the National Center for Privatization & PPP and the State Properties General Authority are also advancing Quality Valley Riyadh, a mixed-use development planned for the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization headquarters site in Al-Muhammadiyah district. The project covers more than 191,000 sq m, with 59 local and international companies having expressed interest in participating.
