UInvest Group represents the developers whose projects we list and sells them to buyers as a sales agent, so we have a commercial interest in sales. This profile summarises public sources and our own listing data and is not investment advice. Last checked 9 October 2026.
On this page
- Diamond Developers Oman: Who Is Behind The Sustainable City – Yiti
- Diamond Developers Oman at a Glance
- Ownership, History and Backing of Diamond Developers Oman
- Diamond Developers Oman Projects: The Sustainable City – Yiti
- Track Record Before Oman: The Sustainable City in Dubai
- Handover Targets and Construction Progress in Oman
- How Buying From Diamond Developers Oman Works
- Ownership Route and Residency at Diamond Developers Oman
- Strengths of Diamond Developers Oman
- Diamond Developers Oman and Other Oman Developers
- Frequently Asked Questions
Projects by Diamond Developers on UInvest
The Sustainable City – Yiti (TSCY) — Net-Zero Freehold Homes in Muscat, Oman
The Sustainable City - Yiti, Bandar Jissah, Muscat, Oman Details
Diamond Developers Oman: Who Is Behind The Sustainable City – Yiti
Diamond Developers Oman is the shorthand most buyers use for the Dubai-based team behind The Sustainable City – Yiti (TSCY), a mixed-use coastal community about 40 km east of Muscat. Diamond Developers is a subsidiary of SEE Holding and the developer of The Sustainable City in Dubai, which was handed over from 2016. In Oman it does not sell homes directly. The project is delivered by a joint-venture company, the Sustainable Development and Investment Company (SDIC), which Oman’s state tourism developer OMRAN Group and the Diamond Developers side formed in 2022. This page is a profile of Diamond Developers Oman: what the company has built in Dubai, how the Omani joint venture is structured, what our own listings say about prices and terms, and how reserving and buying work.
Every external fact on this page is linked to a source, and developer statements are attributed to the developer. According to the developer’s website, the handover of The Plaza, its main apartment district at The Sustainable City – Yiti, is scheduled for December 2027.
Diamond Developers Oman at a Glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | Diamond Developers, a subsidiary of SEE Holding (Dubai), operating in Oman through SDIC |
| Oman vehicle | Sustainable Development and Investment Company S.A.O.C. (SDIC), joint venture with OMRAN Group |
| Joint venture announced | 13 January 2022 (Oman Observer); project launched 30 March 2022 |
| Oman project | The Sustainable City – Yiti, Yiti, Muscat Governorate |
| Planned scale | 1,657 homes at launch: 300 villas, 1,225 Plaza apartments, 132 serviced residences (our arithmetic; see below) |
| Status in Oman | Off-plan and under construction; The Plaza handover is scheduled for December 2027, according to the developer |
| Delivered elsewhere | The Sustainable City, Dubai (46 hectares, about 500 villas and 89 apartments); Sharjah Sustainable City handover began in 2022 |
| Our entry price | OMR 70,000 ($182,000) for a 531 sq ft studio, per our listing page |
| Website | thesustainablecity-yiti.com |
Ownership, History and Backing of Diamond Developers Oman
Diamond Developers and SEE Holding
Diamond Developers is the name under which the Dubai sustainable-city projects were developed. It is led by its founder and chairman, Faris Saeed, who is quoted in every Oman announcement. SEE Holding’s own site says that group was formed after the 2008 financial crisis and describes Faris Saeed’s journey as beginning in 2003; SEE Holding’s about page names Wassim Adlouni as a co-founder of Diamond Developers. A Forbes Middle East listing gives 2020 as the year SEE Holding was established and names The Sustainable City, Diamond Developers, Tadweer and City Solar as its subsidiaries.
The corporate labels vary between sources. The SEE Developers page describes SEE Developers as the development arm of SEE Holding and lists its design and masterplanning service as “formerly Diamond Developers”. The Yiti website says the city is “developed by Diamond Developers under SEE Holding”. Lenders’ documents in 2026 name SEE Holding rather than Diamond Developers as the shareholder in the Omani company. In practical terms, when you read Diamond Developers Oman, SEE Holding Oman or “The Sustainable City – Yiti”, you are reading about the same sponsor group. The legal entity that will sign your sale and purchase agreement is SDIC.
The Omani joint venture, SDIC
The Oman project started with a land and masterplan agreement. In September 2021 OMRAN Group signed a development agreement with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism for the Yiti-Yenkit development, which OMRAN describes as covering 11 square kilometres in four phases. On 13 January 2022 the Oman Observer reported that OMRAN and Diamond Developers had formed SDIC to execute the first phase, with an investment of about $1 billion and a first-phase area of 900,000 square metres. Faris Saeed called it Diamond Developers’ first project in the Sultanate. The CM Today report from 17 January 2022 gives the same figures. The official launch followed on 30 March 2022, covered by Muscat Daily and Gulf News, with completion then slated for 2025.
OMRAN Group is the state side of the partnership. Its site says it was established in 2005 and is guided by the Oman Investment Authority, and the International Finance Corporation describes it as wholly owned by the Oman Investment Authority. We profile it separately in our OMRAN Group developer profile. The company’s formal name is Sustainable Development and Investment Company S.A.O.C., and SDIC’s chairman is named in 2026 coverage as Saif bin Sulaiman Al Yaarubi, with Abdelrahman Elhag described as general manager.
Who has lent against the project
The financing trail is the best independent evidence of how banks view Diamond Developers Oman. Euromoney reported a $162 million Islamic facility for Yiti Sustainable City in November 2023, with Ahli Islamic named. The Zawya business site reports that the OPEC Fund earmarked $40 million for the Plaza District. On 30 September 2026 the IFC announced an OMR 38.5 million ($100 million) Islamic green facility exclusively for the Plaza District, calling it the IFC’s first real estate investment in Oman. The IFC’s project disclosure, mirrored on the Rights in Development early-warning database, shows the $100 million as an A-loan within a $200 million debt package, a total Plaza cost of $370 million, board approval dated 12 March 2026 and an environmental category of B. Muscat Daily repeats the $370 million figure.
A development-finance institution and regional banks lending to SDIC is a positive sign: lenders do their own technical and legal work, and the IFC applies its environmental and social standards.
Diamond Developers Oman Projects: The Sustainable City – Yiti
Diamond Developers Oman has one project in the country, split by the developer into districts. Our main page, The Sustainable City – Yiti (TSCY), carries prices, sizes, a payment plan and residency figures.
The Sustainable City – Yiti: what is on sale
According to the developer, The Sustainable City – Yiti is a net-zero-by-2040 community of villas, apartments, serviced residences, two hotels, a marina, a school and nursery, an equestrian club, a sports complex and retail. Our main page lists five unit types: a studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and a villa, all freehold, unfurnished and open to all nationalities. The prices below are the “from” prices on that page, converted at the peg of 2.6008 where the page gives dollars only, and the per-square-foot figure is price divided by built-up area.
| Unit type | Size | From price | Price per sq ft | Price per m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 531 sq ft (49 m²) | OMR 70,000 ($182,000) | $343 | OMR 1,419 |
| 1-bedroom | 629 sq ft (58 m²) | OMR 83,743 ($217,800) | $346 | OMR 1,433 |
| 2-bedroom | 1,206 sq ft (112 m²) | OMR 127,922 ($332,700) | $276 | OMR 1,142 |
| 3-bedroom | 1,765 sq ft (164 m²) | OMR 213,400 ($555,000) | $314 | OMR 1,301 |
| Villa | 2,745 sq ft (255 m²) | OMR 238,700 ($620,900) | $226 | OMR 936 |
Per square foot, the small units cost the most, as is usual: the studio is $343 against $226 for the villa. The villa is the lowest-priced way to buy floor area at Diamond Developers Oman, and the villa and the 3-bedroom apartment are the two unit types priced above the OMR 200,000 residency threshold, by about OMR 38,700 and about OMR 13,400. For wider context on how these rates compare across the country, see our guide to Oman property prices per square metre.
Our main page also records a price history: the entry price in November 2023 is given as OMR 55,101 (about $143,300), against $182,000 now. That is the developer’s list price, not a resale or a valuation.
The masterplan in numbers
The developer’s figures reconcile if you treat the launch total as three product lines. The Yiti website lists more than 300 villas in the Sustainable District, more than 1,000 apartments in The Plaza and 132 residences in The Arc. The IFC and Zawya give 1,225 apartments in the Plaza. Add 300, 1,225 and 132 and you get 1,657, exactly the total announced at the March 2022 launch. That is our own arithmetic, not a developer statement, but it gives a useful frame: roughly three-quarters of the homes are Plaza apartments, so the Plaza handover date is effectively the project’s handover date.
The launch coverage gives the area as one million square metres, and the IFC and Muscat Daily give about 100 hectares. The developer says the finished community will host more than 10,000 residents and visitors, and the IFC repeats that target and adds about 2,200 direct and indirect jobs.
The Arc is the 132-unit serviced-residence building, presented as a Nikki Beach signature collection in a July 2025 release with two-, three- and four-bedroom layouts. An August 2025 developer release said a penthouse in The Arc sold for more than OMR 2 million and phase-one sales passed OMR 10 million before the official launch event. We do not list The Arc, so we have no prices for it.
Phase one
The developer has said that phase one sold out and that 55% of phase-one buyers were Omani nationals; it reports the rest as from 29 nationalities, with Russia, North America and the UK mentioned. The December 2024 CBNME report and the developer’s site repeat the sell-out and the 55%. At the June 2023 sales launch the developer listed 422 units: 136 villas and 286 apartments.
Track Record Before Oman: The Sustainable City in Dubai
The Sustainable City in Dubai is a completed community that shows what the team builds. The Yiti site describes the model as “proven across Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi”.
What was built and when
| Item | Fact | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Site | 46 hectares, Dubailand, Al Qudra Road | ME Construction News |
| Construction start | January 2014 | ME Construction News |
| Phase one complete | Q4 2016 | ME Construction News |
| Homes in phase one | 500 villas in five clusters, plus 89 apartments in the community mall | ME Construction News |
| Occupancy, early 2017 | 60% of villas, 70% of mixed-use space | ME Construction News |
| Occupied during 2017 | 363 villas and 200 apartments, about 1,900 residents | Gulf News |
The ME Construction News project profile, published in March 2017, is the most detailed independent account. It describes 46 hectares, five villa clusters and a central green spine more than 3 km long with 11 bio-dome greenhouses. It reports 25,000 of a planned 40,000 solar panels installed at the time, aimed at 10 MW. A February 2017 Gulf Construction report said around 1,000 residents and more than 250 villas were occupied then, with the mall, equestrian centre and tracks complete. The Dubai community’s own website gives the handover as 2016 and describes the community as having a school, a nursery, clinics, a mosque and retail.
Roughly 500 villas and 89 apartments were delivered in the first phase, they were lived in, and occupancy figures were reported by the press while the project was still young. The community website now lists a school and the SEE Institute among its facilities.
Measured performance in Dubai
The most useful independent figures come from a monitoring exercise reported by Gulf News in November 2018. Over 2017, when 363 villas and 200 apartments were occupied, villas used 42% less electricity than a traditional Dubai villa and 31% less water per capita, and greenhouse-gas intensity was almost 50% lower than for conventional UAE villas. The greenhouse-gas inventory followed the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Emission Inventories and was verified by Dubai Carbon.
Awards
Diamond Developers has won several industry awards. The Sustainable City won “Green Building of the Year” at the Emirates Green Building Council awards in May 2016. At the Gulf Real Estate Awards in April 2017 it won “Happiest Community” and “Best Real Estate Developer – Sustainable Green Development”. At the Smart Built Environment Awards in September 2022 Diamond Developers was named Developer of the Year, the Dubai community took a Customer Driven Business Award and Sharjah Sustainable City took a Sustainable Community Award. For Oman, The Sustainable City – Yiti won Best Sustainable Project and Best Sustainable Development at the Dossier Construction Awards & Summit on 3 November 2022. SEE Holding says it holds more than 60 awards in total.
Sharjah
Sharjah Sustainable City is a partnership between Diamond Developers and the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq). Khaleej Times reported in September 2022 that handover to phase-one villa buyers had begun on a 7.2-million-square-foot plot in Al Rahmaniya, with phase one sold out. That is a second, independently reported delivery, and it shows the team can hand over to buyers outside Dubai.
Handover Targets and Construction Progress in Oman
Diamond Developers Oman is building The Sustainable City – Yiti as an off-plan project. Below are the handover date given by the developer and the construction progress information, with sources.
The latest dated statement, on the developer’s site and in Zawya’s report on the OPEC Fund financing, is specific to The Plaza, which is the largest block of homes, and gives December 2027. The Plaza is “currently scheduled” for December 2027 in that report.
Construction progress
The most concrete progress figure is from the CBNME report of December 2024: infrastructure 96% complete, plaza infrastructure finished, plaza construction 31% and villa construction 33%. The school and nursery began construction in September 2024. A July 2026 ME Construction News article reports 25 million safe working hours without a lost-time injury and lists works under way, among them the marina hotel, the Plaza, marine and wadi protection works, the Sustainable District villas, the school and nursery, The Arc, a four-star hotel and a wellness centre. The developer’s website says drone footage shows streets, villas, the Plaza and coastline “taking shape”.
Contractors named in the press include Galfar, whose RO9 million infrastructure and earthworks contract is reported by the Oman Observer as starting on 2 March 2022 with a 15-month period, and the larger RO75 million building contract reported by Muscat Daily.
Sustainability targets
Diamond Developers Oman describes the project as Oman’s first net-zero community, targeted for 2040, with 100% renewable energy, 100% water recycling, full diversion of waste from landfill, up to 80% self-sufficiency in local food and a 78% cut in per-capita carbon footprint against conventional housing. These are the developer’s targets. The IFC’s release adds an independent element: all Plaza buildings are expected to reach EDGE Advanced certification, with projected savings of more than 6,000 megawatt-hours of energy and 80,000 cubic metres of water a year. EDGE is a green-building certification scheme created by the IFC, and the figures are projections.
The developer also publishes local-content figures: 78.65% of materials Omani-sourced, more than 58 Omani small and medium enterprises engaged and more than 1,800 jobs supported.
How Buying From Diamond Developers Oman Works
Payment plan
According to our main listing page, the plan is 30% before handover and 70% on handover. The reservation is 5%, a further 5% is due within one month, 10% within four months and 10% within eight months. On the prices we list, the cash flow looks like this.
| Unit type | Price | Reservation 5% | Total before handover (30%) | Due at handover (70%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | OMR 70,000 ($182,000) | OMR 3,500 ($9,100) | OMR 21,000 ($54,600) | OMR 49,000 ($127,400) |
| 1-bedroom | OMR 83,743 ($217,800) | OMR 4,187 ($10,890) | OMR 25,123 ($65,340) | OMR 58,620 ($152,460) |
| 2-bedroom | OMR 127,922 ($332,700) | OMR 6,396 ($16,635) | OMR 38,377 ($99,810) | OMR 89,546 ($232,890) |
| 3-bedroom | OMR 213,400 ($555,000) | OMR 10,670 ($27,750) | OMR 64,020 ($166,500) | OMR 149,380 ($388,500) |
| Villa | OMR 238,700 ($620,900) | OMR 11,935 ($31,045) | OMR 71,610 ($186,270) | OMR 167,090 ($434,630) |
A buyer pays the first 30% within roughly eight months of booking and the remaining 70% on handover. Our guide to Oman property payment plans compares this with other schemes. The developer’s website says Shari’ah-compliant home financing is available through Bank Nizwa.
Reservation, contract and escrow
Off-plan purchases in Oman are governed by Royal Decree 79/2025. Our guide to Oman’s real estate law 79/2025 for off-plan buyers explains what the law requires of developers and what it gives buyers. When reserving, a buyer normally receives the reservation form, the sale and purchase agreement (SPA), the payment schedule, the escrow account details and the handover schedule for the unit.
Service charges and running costs
Our main page says apartment service charges are free for five years and that villas have no service charge. Our general guide to service charges in Oman real estate covers the topic in more detail.
Rental, resale and exit
The developer positions the project partly for residents and partly for visitors, with hotels, a marina and serviced apartments. For yields elsewhere in Oman, see rental yields in Oman. On exit, selling in Oman is straightforward for freehold owners in principle; our guide to selling property in Oman sets out the steps.
Ownership Route and Residency at Diamond Developers Oman
Freehold for foreigners
Our listing pages describe the project as freehold and open to all nationalities, with title registered in the buyer’s name, and our Yiti city page places it within the Integrated Tourism Complex framework. Our guide to freehold property in Oman sets out how the ITC route works, and our page on property in Oman foreigners cannot buy covers the cases where the answer is no. Our Yiti city page also lists a 3% foreign-buyer transfer fee and 5% VAT on a first supply from a developer.
Golden Residency versus the Owner Visa
Two different things are on offer, and they are easy to confuse. The Owner Visa has no minimum price. Golden Residency needs a single ITC property worth at least OMR 200,000. Our guide to Golden Residency versus the Owner Visa explains the difference. Applying it to our price list:
| Unit type | From price | Against OMR 200,000 ($520,160) | Golden Residency route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | OMR 70,000 | Below the threshold by OMR 130,000 | Price below the threshold |
| 1-bedroom | OMR 83,743 | Below the threshold by OMR 116,257 | Price below the threshold |
| 2-bedroom | OMR 127,922 | Below the threshold by OMR 72,078 | Price below the threshold |
| 3-bedroom | OMR 213,400 | Above the threshold by OMR 13,400 (6.7%) | Price above the threshold |
| Villa | OMR 238,700 | Above the threshold by OMR 38,700 (19.4%) | Price above the threshold |
The threshold applies to one property, so two studios do not combine to reach it. The price that counts is the one in the contract, not a “from” price. Residency also requires the usual approval steps; no property purchase by itself grants residency. We recommend confirming the current rule with a lawyer before relying on the threshold, because the threshold is a policy that has changed before.
Strengths of Diamond Developers Oman
Strengths, each with evidence
- A delivered precedent. The Dubai community was built, occupied and monitored, and its first phase of about 500 villas and 89 apartments was reported by independent trade press (ME Construction News, Gulf News). Sharjah handover began in 2022 (Khaleej Times).
- Measured, third-party-verified efficiency results in Dubai: 42% less electricity, 31% less water per capita, almost 50% lower greenhouse-gas intensity in 2017, verified by Dubai Carbon (Gulf News).
- State-backed partner. OMRAN Group is wholly owned by the Oman Investment Authority according to the IFC, and the Yiti-Yenkit master development rights came through a development agreement with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism in 2021.
- Institutional lenders. The IFC’s OMR 38.5 million Islamic green facility, an OPEC Fund allocation and a $162 million Islamic facility reported by Euromoney show that banks have done diligence on the project.
- A light pre-handover payment schedule: 30% before handover on our main page.
- Freehold for all nationalities, with a Golden Residency route for the two largest unit types.
Diamond Developers Oman and Other Oman Developers
Diamond Developers Oman is a foreign sponsor working through a joint venture with the state developer on one large, single-site project. Our guide to Oman property developers explains how we assess them, and the developer hub lists every profile.
Our handover calendar, ready property in Oman: handover calendar, shows which projects have completed and which are scheduled.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Diamond Developers Oman?
Diamond Developers Oman means the Diamond Developers / SEE Holding team that is developing The Sustainable City – Yiti with OMRAN Group through the joint venture SDIC. Diamond Developers is a Dubai-based subsidiary of SEE Holding and built The Sustainable City in Dubai. In Oman the joint venture was reported on 13 January 2022 and the project was launched on 30 March 2022.
Is Diamond Developers Oman state-owned?
Diamond Developers Oman is not state-owned, but its Omani partner is. OMRAN Group is wholly owned by the Oman Investment Authority according to the IFC, and it is one of the two sponsors of SDIC. The other sponsor is the Diamond Developers / SEE Holding side, which is a private Dubai group.
What has Diamond Developers Oman built?
Diamond Developers Oman’s delivery record is in the UAE: about 500 villas and 89 apartments in Dubai, completed in phase one by Q4 2016, and a Sharjah handover that began in 2022. In Oman, The Sustainable City – Yiti is being built off-plan.
When will The Sustainable City – Yiti be handed over?
Diamond Developers Oman has scheduled handover of The Plaza, its main apartment district at The Sustainable City – Yiti, for December 2027 according to the developer’s website.
How much do Diamond Developers Oman homes cost?
Diamond Developers Oman homes on our main page start at OMR 70,000 ($182,000) for a 531 sq ft studio and reach OMR 238,700 ($620,900) for a 2,745 sq ft villa. The payment plan is 5%, 5%, 10% and 10% before handover and 70% on handover.
Can foreigners buy from Diamond Developers Oman, and do they get residency?
Foreigners can buy from Diamond Developers Oman: our listings describe the project as freehold and open to all nationalities within an Integrated Tourism Complex. The Owner Visa has no minimum price. Golden Residency requires a single ITC property of at least OMR 200,000, which on our price list only the 3-bedroom apartment and villa reach.
How is the project financed?
Diamond Developers Oman is backed by loans from institutions: a $162 million Islamic facility reported by Euromoney in 2023, an OPEC Fund allocation of $40 million for the Plaza and an IFC facility of OMR 38.5 million ($100 million) in September 2026. Escrow protection for buyers’ instalments is described in our Royal Decree 79/2025 guide.
Ask us about Diamond Developers Oman projects
Last checked: 9 October 2026. Sources: Oman Observer, SDIC formed; Muscat Daily, launch; IFC press release; The Sustainable City – Yiti, about; The Sustainable City – Yiti, home; CBNME, progress December 2024; ME Construction News, Dubai; Gulf News, Dubai performance study; OMRAN Group, project page; SEE Holding launch release. Our own listing pages are linked above.
