Saudi Arabia real estate gigaproject developer replaces chief executive

DUBAI: New Murabba, the developer behind one of Saudi Arabia’s gigaprojects, has replaced its chief executive in a further sign of changes across flagship real estate investments in the kingdom amid a retooling of the Gulf country’s economic transformation plan.

New Murabba, owned by the country’s wealth fund PIF, has appointed Sabah Barakat as acting chief executive, according to the company’s website and was mentioned in that role in a company statement this week about an investment partnership. He replaces British manager Michael Dyke, chief executive since 2024.

Barakat is a senior executive within the PIF and is also acting group CEO of state-backed developer ROSHN Group. It was not immediately clear whether Dyke would remain at New Murabba.

The PIF redirected questions around the management changes and the project to New Murabba, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Dyke could not be reached for comment.

The company’s major projects include construction of a colossal cube-shaped skyscraper at the centre of a downtown development in Riyadh, and the shake-up comes months after Reuters reported the project was facing difficulties.

Saudi Arabia has been investing hundreds of billions of dollars to transform its economy and cut reliance on hydrocarbon revenues under an ambitious agenda called “Vision 2030” spearheaded by the PIF. It aims to create new industries with investment in various sector including tourism, technology and with massive real estate projects. However, overspending and lower-than-anticipated global oil prices in recent years hit state revenues and left Riyadh struggling to deliver some of the projects, which were omitted or largely scaled back under the wealth fund’s 2026-2030 strategy, released in April.

Real estate consultancy Knight Frank estimated the New Murabba district would cost about USD50 billion. Initial plans for the project called for completion by 2030, but it is now slated to be completed by 2040.