PIF plans $100bn ‘Project Paradise’

• New mixed-use giga-project
• Sources say design is in progress
• Going ahead despite funding cuts

Saudi Arabia’s $925 billion Public Investment Fund is drawing up plans for a $100 billion development in Riyadh, even as it reins in spending across some of its flagship projects, according to sources.

The mixed-use project, known internally as “Project Paradise”, is in the early planning stage and is expected to be located southwest of the capital near Wadi Laban, the sources said.

No design has been completed, they said.

Saudi Arabia faces mounting fiscal pressures and intensifying scrutiny over the pace and scale of its Vision 2030 programme.

PIF, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been reviewing timelines and budgets across its sprawling development portfolio, with some projects being hit with spending cuts of as much as 60 percent as priorities shift.

The fund declined to comment when contacted by AGBI.

While the country’s $1 trillion pipeline of giga-projects remains central to its economic diversification drive, falling oil revenues and Opec+ output cuts have forced a recalibration. 

Analysts warn that the budget deficit – officially forecast at $27 billion this year – could swell further, with Brent crude trading below $70 a barrel, far short of the country’s fiscal breakeven price.

Saudi Arabia oil breakeven prices

The fund’s own firepower has also been squeezed. Its cash reserves fell to $15 billion in September, the lowest since 2020, as it braces for a $40 billion cut to dividend payouts from its 16 percent stake in oil giant Aramco.

Against that backdrop, Project Paradise reflects a broader shift towards developments aimed at delivering faster commercial returns, sources said.

Unlike Neom, the $500 billion futuristic mega-city whose centrepiece, The Line, has been scaled back, Project Paradise is being planned with a commercial model closer to Dubai’s communities.

Early concepts being considered include a golf course and a mix of residential, leisure and commercial zones, with proposals under discussion to expand the Wadi Laban reservoir into an artificial lake, sources say.

Saudi Arabia has no permanent rivers but is home to numerous wadis – dry or seasonal riverbeds that flow only after rainfall.

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Project Paradise was one of several upcoming projects mentioned in a list during a presentation at the Saudi Giga Projects conference in Riyadh this week. No further details were given.

Saudi authorities are trying to raise the national homeownership rate to 70 percent under Vision 2030 and the country has also opened up property ownership to foreign investors alongside its premium residency programme. 

Meanwhile, another smaller project featuring a cluster of food and beverage outlets is also expected to be announced before the end of this year, aimed at boosting tourism ahead of Saudi Arabia’s hosting of Expo 2030 and the Fifa World Cup in 2034. The project aligns with PIF’s focus on quicker commercial returns, the sources said.

Despite the cost pressures, PIF is protecting funding for projects tied to major international events.