Expo 2030 Riyadh and Mohammed Al Habib Real Estate Company have formed a SAR3.2 billion joint venture to develop and deliver the Expo Village, the residential community that will accommodate official participants and delegations during the 2030 World Expo.The agreement, announced on Monday, is the first joint-venture milestone for Expo 2030 Riyadh and moves the residential project into an advanced delivery stage after completion of design and site-preparation work. Construction is expected to begin in line with the approved programme.
The Expo Village is planned to include about 2,300 apartments with capacity for roughly 5,500 residents. It will also contain retail and dining outlets, amenities, services and operational facilities designed to support delegations throughout the six-month event.
Expo organisers said the development would form part of a fully integrated sustainable district and would be connected to the main Expo site through a dedicated metro station, while also providing access to King Khalid International Airport and Riyadh’s broader transport network.
The agreement was signed at the Expo site by Talal Al-Marri, chief executive of Expo 2030 Riyadh, and Abdullah Mohammed Al Habib, chief executive of Mohammed Al Habib Real Estate Company. Saad Al-Kroud, head of local real estate investments at the Public Investment Fund and chairman of the executive committee of Expo 2030 Riyadh Company’s board, attended the signing.
Al-Marri said the project reflected Expo 2030 Riyadh’s strategy of using private-sector expertise, investment and delivery capabilities as preparations accelerate across the site. He said the village would meet the accommodation needs of official participants during the event before being converted into a permanent residential community.
That post-event role is a central element of the scheme. The village has been designed for long-term use, with homes, shops, restaurants, leisure and community facilities, landscaped public areas and pedestrian-friendly streets intended to support an active neighbourhood within northern Riyadh after the Expo closes.
Project plans also incorporate climate-responsive design principles and efficient building systems intended to improve environmental and operational performance over the development’s lifespan. Expo 2030 Riyadh said additional residential developments are expected to follow as part of the event’s legacy phase.
Abdullah Mohammed Al Habib said the company would draw on more than five decades of real estate experience in planning, development and operations for the project. The company, founded in 1972, has developed residential and commercial projects in Saudi Arabia.
The SAR3.2 billion agreement, equivalent to about $853 million, adds a major privately backed residential component to a wider construction programme already under way for the Expo site. Expo 2030 Riyadh has said implementation is advancing across infrastructure, services and facilities needed for participating countries and organisations.
Expo 2030 Riyadh will run from October 1, 2030, to March 31, 2031, under the theme “Foresight for Tomorrow”. The organisers expect 42 million visits and participation by 197 countries, with more than 230 pavilions planned across a site of about six million square metres.
The Bureau International des Expositions formally registered Expo 2030 Riyadh in June 2025, clearing Saudi Arabia to move into the implementation phase and issue official invitations to international participants. The BIE and Saudi Arabia have also established the legal framework governing participation through the Expo’s headquarters agreement.
Preparations have increasingly shifted from institutional approvals towards construction and participant delivery. Oman signed its participation contract this month, following earlier agreements with France and Bahrain, while site works and pavilion planning are continuing more than four years before opening day.
The partnership structure also places private capital directly alongside the Expo delivery programme, rather than treating housing as a standalone procurement package. Organisers have presented the model as part of a broader effort to create economic opportunities before the event while ensuring that assets built for international delegations retain a viable urban function after the gates close permanently.
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