Hassan Allam’s Grova becomes third Egyptian developer in Oman’s residential market with Madinat Al Irfan project

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) yesterday to build the first residential development at Madinat Al Irfan — a USD 75 mn neighborhood and a USD 40 mn branded residences project, according to a press release. The USD 115 mn commitment is Grova’s debut in Oman and Omran’s first residential launch at Madinat Al Irfan, a 7 mn sqm masterplan on Muscat’s western edge, slated to eventually house 10k units.

Irfan is one of two centers of gravity in the Omani residential market right now. 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, tells EnterpriseAM. The other is Sultan Haitham City, the national flagship smart-city urban development. Both projects are feeding the same momentum. “[The projects] have created long-term market confidence and attracted institutional capital, while immediate end-user demand continues to absorb existing stock in established corridors,” Shuwaikh says.

Both 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. But 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% of a property at prices as low as OMR 50k (USD 130k), 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,” Shuwaikh adds. Yields are a key draw, with ITC residential properties averaging 8.75% gross and mixed-use assets reaching 9.75%, he says. Accessible entry prices compared to the regional alternatives are also playing a role — studios at Sultan Haitham launched at OMR 27.8k in 2023 and are now trading around OMR 70k, well below comparable units in Dubai or Riyadh, as we reported last month.

Hassan Allam joins a short list of Egyptian first-movers. Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) and Al Ahly Sabbour got to Oman first. TMG has Jood inside Sultan Haitham City and its coastal Yamal project, while Al Ahly Sabbour has Wadi Zaha, also in Sultan Haitham City. Brokers say the two Egyptian firms have taken the most premium plots so far. “Egyptian developers possess deep, proven expertise in master-planned smart city projects and large-scale community developments. Their business models align directly with the master framework and scale of Sultan Haitham City,” Shuwaikh says.

This comes amid a near absence of GCC developers in these two major urban developments. So far, Saudi developer Retal is the only non-Egyptian developer in Sultan Haitham City or Irfan, with a USD 830 mn mixed-use project spanning 1.3 mn sqm announced in the summer, while no major Emirati developer (such as Emaar, Aldar, or Damac) has entered either development yet.

But don’t read too much into the Egyptian lead, cautions Farzad Salehi, principal at Muscat-based Yaghoobi Real Estate Brokerage. “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 tells us. “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,” Al Shuwaikh adds.