The Cairo-listed developer unveils its first project outside Egypt at LIVEX 2026, targeting the Gulf’s high-end residential market
ABU DHABI — Sept. 30, 2026 : Cairo-based developer Palm Hills Developments is entering the United Arab Emirates with Saadiyat Shores, an upscale residential community off Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, marking the company’s first cross-border expansion in its 25-year history.
The Egyptian real estate firm is showcasing the venture at LIVEX 2026, the Abu Dhabi Livability and Investment Exhibition running through Oct. 1 at the ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi. The move signals an aggressive push by major North African developers to capture capital flows into the Gulf Cooperation Council’s booming property sector.
The Abu Dhabi venture draws on Palm Hills’ portfolio of more than 50 completed and active developments across Egypt. Company leadership framed the UAE rollout as the anchor for a broader regional expansion strategy, citing Abu Dhabi’s regulatory stability and sustained buyer demand for integrated master-planned communities.
“The UAE is one of the most important markets in our regional growth strategy,” said Yasseen Mansour, Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Palm Hills Developments. “Its stability, ambition and openness to international investment make it a natural extension of what we have built in Egypt over the past 25 years. Saadiyat Shores marks a major milestone for Palm Hills, representing our first international destination.”
Saadiyat Island has emerged as Abu Dhabi’s premier cultural and luxury residential corridor, housing institutions such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the forthcoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. Palm Hills plans to position Saadiyat Shores as a boutique luxury destination that blends residential units with private hospitality, retail, and recreational amenities.
Eng. Magued Sherif, Chief Executive Officer for the firm’s UAE arm, said the design will mirror the island’s low-density, culture-led character rather than mass-market residential blocks.
The company’s commercial leadership pointed to a structural shift in regional homebuyer preferences toward integrated developments that combine daily community management with long-term capital preservation.
“Today’s buyers look beyond the home itself and consider the complete experience a destination provides,” said Omar Mansour, Chief Commercial Officer of Palm Hills Developments. “By bringing together essential services, lifestyle amenities and thoughtfully designed public spaces, we create communities that respond to changing needs and retain their appeal over the long term.”
At LIVEX 2026, the developer is holding direct meetings with regional institutional investors, private family offices, and commercial brokerage networks to finalize distribution and funding syndicates ahead of the public sales launch.
The move reflects tightening economic and commercial integration between Cairo and Abu Dhabi, following multi-billion-dollar UAE investments in Egypt’s Mediterranean coast and reciprocal expansions by Egyptian blue-chip corporations into Gulf financial centres.
