Sharjah-based Arada has acquired a 47-acre waterfront mixed-use development site located in London’s Royal Docks, in what the master developer’s group CEO has described as the largest property transaction in the UK capital for at least five years.
Arada purchased an 80 per cent stake in the Thameside West project from private developer Keystone for US$296 million.
With a total gross development value of US$3.3 billion and master-planned by Foster + Partners, Thameside West is set to deliver at least 5,000 homes, with construction on the first 1,000 homes scheduled to begin in 2027.
The acquisition is Arada’s second large-scale transaction in London in two months, following the purchase of UK developer Regal in September for US$355 million.
“At the time of the Regal acquisition, we articulated our ambition to scale our London residential pipeline to 30,000 units over the next three years, and we have swiftly delivered on growing that pipeline,” said Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, deputy ruler of Sharjah, and chairman of Arada, in a press statement.
“Thameside West represents a unique opportunity to create a landmark riverside development, and we look forward to working with our partners and utilising our long-standing track record in large-scale, amenity-rich residential schemes to unlock the delivery of new housing for London.”
“We’ve had a lot of people asking why London and why now,” Arada group CEO Ahmed Alkhoshaibi told Arabian Business. “For developers who are able to take a long-term strategic approach, London still has unparallelled demand over property cycles, as well as great infrastructure and transparency, and is also still a global capital for finance, culture, tourism and so on. We think this deal is the biggest property transaction in London for at least the last six or seven years and helps us towards our goal of having 30,000 homes in our UK pipeline by 2028.”
“I am delighted that Arada is investing in London to transform Thameside West – one of the key sites within the Royal Docks,” said Tom Copley, London’s deputy mayor for housing residential development, in a press statement. “This really is a fantastic example of how we can unlock London’s potential to deliver the homes our city so urgently needs.”
Founded in 2017, Arada has projects in both Sharjah and the UAE, and expanded into Australia in 2024. The company reported a tripling of sales in the first half to US$2.5 billion, and has stated that it is targeting sales valued at US$4 billion for full-year 2025.
