The Complete Guide to Alam Al Roum on Egypt’s North Coast

Alam Al Roum is a year-round city being developed by Qatari Diar on Egypt’s North Coast.

Investments total USD 29.7 billion across 4,900 feddans and 7.2 km of sea frontage in the Matrouh Governorate. One feddan equals around 4,200 square meters, making the entire site equivalent to 20.58 million square meters.

The project went from the signed deal in November 2025 to a full masterplan in July 2026, in less than nine months, a fast turnaround for a development of this scale.

Qatari Diar signed an investment deal with the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), an Egyptian government agency responsible for developing new cities in the country, on Thursday 6 November 2025.

Then the full masterplan, prepared by the design firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), was revealed in July 2026. Here is what to know about the deal, the company behind it, the masterplan, the location, and what comes next.

Alam Al Roum facts

All figures below come from official statements by Qatari Diar and the project website, current as of August 2026.

Investment details

Qatari Diar and NUCA signed the investment deal in Cairo in the presence of Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

The investment package is divided into two components. According to the Egyptian State Information Service (SIS), Qatari Diar will provide USD 3.5 billion in cash to purchase the land and USD 26.2 billion in-kind to finance construction. Construction Business News Middle East reported that the cash component was paid to NUCA by July 2026.

Once Qatari Diar has recovered all costs, NUCA will receive 15 percent of all future net profits from the project. Effectively, that means the Egyptian government will continue to have a stake in the long-term returns from Alam Al Roum instead of selling off the land outright. Qatari Diar said the development would generate more than 250,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities.

Who is Qatari Diar?

Qatari Diar is the real estate division of the Qatar Investment Authority, the state-owned Qatar sovereign wealth fund. It lists over 50 projects spanning 20 nations on the project website, with properties in Doha, London and Morocco.

Qatari Diar isn’t new to Egypt. The group already owns CityGate, NEWGIZA and The St. Regis Cairo. Alam Al Roum takes its footprint in the country to over 40 million square meters and adds USD 7 billion to its Egyptian investments.

Sheikh Hamad bin Talal Al Thani, chief executive of Qatari Diar, said the project “shows our belief in the Egyptian market as a tourist and investment destination” when the masterplan was presented in July 2026.

Inside the masterplan

American urban planning firm SOM is designing the project. It’s partnered with SWA on landscape design, Setec on transportation, and Marina Projects on the marinas.

The project begins at the water’s edge and extends inland. The 7.2 km beachfront is on the perimeter, and a series of lagoons extends inland until the project has 28 km of waterfront, even in areas far from the coast. A central boulevard connects the arrival gate to the marina, forming the spine of a walkable city.

The site is broken up into beachfront neighborhoods, a lagoon community, a marina and waterfront boulevard, resort and hospitality areas, a golf community, mixed-use commercial and residential areas, and a free zone with a business center. Residential development accounts for 60% of the site, according to Egypt’s State Information Service.

There are three marinas, one international marina for visiting yachts and two local marinas. There will be roughly 4,500 hotel rooms throughout the development, the announcement says. An 18-hole golf course runs along the northern end of the site, overlooking a natural lagoon and topped by a clifftop clubhouse, the project website notes.

The city is designed to be self-sufficient. Infrastructure includes a service-free zone, an electricity grid, a water desalination plant, hospitals, schools, universities and government offices. The site will also have an education hub and a longevity medical center geared toward preventative care, according to the project website. Autonomous transport and renewable energy systems are planned as well.

Location and travel access

Alam Al Roum is 20 minutes from Marsa Matrouh and 50 minutes from Ras El Hekma. It sits between a coastal town and another prominent development zone in Egypt.

The site itself is a headland that was used as a navigational point by Roman sailors, which is where the project gets its name and its signature lighthouse.

There are four ways to reach the site: car via the International Coastal Road; international flights from Ras El Hekma Airport, the closest international airport; international flights from Marsa Matrouh International Airport, which already serves the region; or Egypt’s proposed future high-speed rail line, which will connect the North Coast to Cairo.

For Qatari buyers

This project targets buyers from the Gulf states, and Doha is only 2.5 hours away by plane. The Qatari Diar website shows Lusail City in Doha as its address, and you can register your interest now for residence, investment and hospitality.

Unit types, prices and sales start dates are not known yet, as of August 2026. Once sales open, any firm wishing to promote overseas properties within Qatar must first obtain permission from the Ministry of Justice, as detailed in our guide to how companies can get Ministry of Justice approvals for overseas property marketing.

Construction schedule and next steps

The project is being delivered as a 15-year masterplan, with the first phase scheduled for five years and comprising around 20 to 25% of the total site area, Construction Review Online reports.

The project’s masterplan was unveiled in July 2026, completing the design stage. Upcoming milestones include construction beginning on Phase 1, sales launching with prices, and updates on the proposed high-speed rail link between Cairo and the North Coast.

As of August 2026, none of these events has a confirmed date, so the construction launch and sales pricing are the ones to watch for first.

Frequently asked questions