Hassan Allam's Grova signs USD 115m deal for first residential phase at Oman's Madinat Al Irfan
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Hassan Allam Holding's real estate arm Grova Developments has signed two agreements with Oman's state-owned Omran Group worth about USD 115 million to launch the first residential phase at Madinat Al Irfan in Muscat.
Hassan Allam Holding is the latest Egyptian developer to cross the Gulf into Oman. The group's real estate arm, Grova Developments, signed two agreements with state-owned Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran Group) to launch the first residential phase at Madinat Al Irfan in Muscat, according to a press release.
The agreements cover a USD 75 million residential neighbourhood and a USD 40 million branded residences project, roughly USD 115 million combined. Hassan Allam Construction will build both. They were two of three agreements signed by Oman on the day totalling about USD 317 million (OMR 122 million), with the remaining package valued at approximately USD 203 million (OMR 78 million).
Madinat Al Irfan has a 7 million square metre masterplan with 10,000 units planned. The project is “establishing itself as Muscat's premier emerging Central Business District for Grade A commercial and office space” ahead of upcoming residential launches, Ahmed Al Shuwaikh, sales and investment manager at Hamptons International Oman, told EnterpriseAM.
Both projects are designated as Integrated Tourism Complexes (ITCs), the main legal route for foreign freehold ownership in Oman, bundled with renewable residency for buyers and their families. Sultan Haitham runs on a more open regime than standard ITCs, with a September 2025 cabinet decision that lets buyers lock in residency after paying just 30 per cent of a property at prices as low as OMR 50,000, pre-completion.
The agreement comes amid a foreign investment surge into Oman's residential market. Oman is “experiencing a notable influx of foreign and GCC capital, driven by political stability, economic predictability, safe-haven status, and major legal reforms, including the New Real Estate Registration Law, which digitizes title registration and boosts transparency,” Al Shuwaikh said. He added that yields are a key draw, with ITC residential properties averaging 8.75 per cent gross and mixed-use assets reaching 9.75 per cent, while accessible entry prices compared with regional alternatives also play a role, with studios at Sultan Haitham launched at OMR 27,800 in 2023-2024 now trading around OMR 70,000, well below comparable units in Dubai or Riyadh.
Hassan Allam joins a short list of Egyptian first-movers. Talaat Moustafa Group and Al Ahly Sabbour entered Oman first, with TMG's Jood inside Sultan Haitham City and its coastal Yamal project, and Al Ahly Sabbour's Wadi Zaha, also in Sultan Haitham City. Saudi developer Retal is the only non-Egyptian regional player to have entered Sultan Haitham City, with a USD 830 million mixed-use project spanning 1.3 million square metres, while no major Emirati developer has entered either of the two major urban developments.
Farzad Salehi, principal at Muscat-based Yaghoobi Real Estate Brokerage, cautioned against reading too much into the Egyptian lead. “It does not, in itself, prove that they have cornered the market on prime land or that other regional developers lack interest; every developer has distinct priorities, return-on-investment targets, and commitments elsewhere,” he said. Al Shuwaikh added: “As primary infrastructure is completed and early absorption is demonstrated, major GCC and Emirati developers are likely to enter for subsequent phases and land parcels.”