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Flow, the real estate startup launched by WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann, launched a 1.1 billion Saudi riyal ($293 million) real estate fund in collaboration with US and Saudi investors.
Working with Saudi investors Sico Capital and Safa, Flow broke ground on its first project in August. “We believe that by creating a platform like this, we’ll allow global investors to be able to invest in Saudi Arabia,” Neumann said during a brief appearance at the real estate conference Cityscape Global on the outskirts of Riyadh.
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Miami-based Flow, founded in 2022, has selected Saudi Arabia as its first international market. Its chic compound Flow Narjis in Riyadh, which is set to own 920 units, is billed as “a conscious community” with two and three-bedroom apartments for rent that ranges between $30,000- and $52,000 a year.
With his trademark flair, Neumann said: “As far as I’m concerned, Saudi Arabia is THE best place in the world to do real estate.”
Sarah’s view
Saudi Arabia needs to build more than 100,000 homes a year until 2030 to meet demand, and entrants like Flow can help bridge that gap. The units that Flow is offering appeal to both middle- and high-income foreign workers as well as younger Saudis entering the workforce.
Villas are typically the standard residences. Apartment living has historically been looked down upon in the country, reflected in the absence of swanky apartment complexes that dot other Gulf cities like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha.
Saudi men and women also typically leave their parents’ homes only after they marry — a phenomenon that is slowly changing with the relaxing of social norms over the past seven years, especially as young professionals take on higher-paying jobs.