Real-estate consultancy services provider JLL’s hosted a VIP networking roundtable in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah to discuss the opportunities within entertainment, industrial and healthcare sectors that align with the kingdom’s Vision 2030.
Key insights shared by JLL at the event included:
Defining the new ‘sweet spot’ in the Jeddah residential market: Currently, supply is either in the form of low-rise villas or a limited number of extremely high-rises high-end apartments. Smart developers are however beginning to recognize that neither of these product categories match the changing expectations of consumers. Jeddah will witness a shift to the middle ground as developers respond to the “sweet spot” in demand for mid-rise apartments in mixed use projects at more affordable prices.
Jeddah’s informal settlement areas: The urban redevelopment of Jeddah is the first in the Kingdom to make a concrete move towards redeveloping these spaces. As a result, former residential buildings, offices and retail plazas, with high vacancies in other parts of Jeddah have seen a sudden spike in demand from the displaced families, businesses and retailers. In the long run, it opens up the opportunity for improving the overall equation between the city level supply and demand. Opportunity also exists for the private sector to participate across the redevelopment project lifecycle and different aspects, such as infrastructure, real estate, among others.
Location-based entertainment: As of May 2021, the global location-based entertainment (LBE) market was valued at USD $3.05 billion in 2020. Jeddah has been underserved for international grade entertainment and cultural offerings and is likely to see footfall growth through Vision 2030 from increase in international and domestic tourism, and population growth. The city is likely to witness an increase in international pull on the back of activations with global appeal e.g. the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and WWE Elimination Chamber.
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