RIYADH: ROSHN, the real estate subsidiary of sovereign wealth fund the Public Investment Fund (PIF) has broken ground on its flagship residential project in the Saudi capital.

The developer’s first community project in the Saudi capital will cover an area of more than 20 million square meters. The project will consist of 30,000 housing units when complete, with 4,000 in the first phase.

The first district is strategically located in the north of the city, near Princess Noura University and south of King Khalid International Airport. The site connects residents to the main roads and transportation network, in addition to parks, pedestrian paths, bicycle paths, restaurants, cafes, schools and mosques.

David Grover, group CEO at ROSHN, said: “The announcement of the Riyadh community represents the initial step in the realization of our vision to become the most trusted community developer in Saudi Arabia. We are deeply committed to contributing to Vision 2030’s plans to increase the rate of home ownership in the country to 70 percent, while delivering high-quality homes and excellent amenities to the Saudi people.”

Launched in August this year, ROSHN has put in place a 10-year plan to develop neighborhoods across the Kingdom in eight phases.

“We are proud to launch ROSHN, a national company specialized in developing modern residential compounds, as part of PIF strategy to develop (Saudi Arabia’s) real estate market,” PIF said in a tweet.

Last month, ROSHN announced the signing of SR1.6 billion ($426 million) in new construction contracts.

According to a press statement last week, sales of off-plan homes at the new site will start in the first half of 2021.