Majid Al Futtaim

Founded in Dubai in 1992, Majid Al Futtaim is an Emirati owned group and the name behind Mall of the Emirates and the City Centre malls. Majid Al Futtaim Properties, its real estate arm, develops master planned freehold communities. Dubai buyers can choose Tilal Al Ghaf, a Dubailand lagoon community of townhouses, villas and mansions, or Ghaf Woods, a forest themed apartment community launched in June 2024 with 35,000 trees. The group also has communities in Sharjah, Oman and Lebanon, and in May 2026 it signed an AED 62 billion deal for a 22 million sq.ft. community in Dubai South.

Majid Al Futtaim Owner and Company Profile

Mr. Majid Al Futtaim, an Emirati businessman, founded the group in 1992. It is still privately held, works across the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia, and has owned assets worth about USD 20 billion.

Retail came first and is still its biggest business. In Dubai, its shopping assets are Mall of the Emirates and 4 City Centre malls: Deira, Mirdif, Me'aisem and Al Shindagha. The group also runs Ski Dubai, VOX Cinemas and Magic Planet, and holds the regional Carrefour franchise.

MAF Properties handles homes through its communities business. Each community is planned as a full district with shops and leisure inside it, and the group stays on as operator after the last home is sold. A new Ghaf Woods Mall, announced in October 2025, will become the group's 30th mall.

Majid Al Futtaim History in Dubai Real Estate

Homebuilding came later for Majid Al Futtaim real estate. For roughly 26 years the group built malls, hotels and leisure venues, and its first homes went up in Sharjah, Muscat and Lebanon, not Dubai.

That changed in April 2018 with Tilal Al Ghaf, the group's 4th community and its first in Dubai. The Elan townhouses were the first homes handed over there. Ghaf Woods came next as its first apartment led community in the city.

So the Majid Al Futtaim developer record in Dubai housing covers about 8 years, not 3 decades. Tilal Al Ghaf has finished neighbourhoods you can walk through today. Ghaf Woods has none yet.

Majid Al Futtaim Communities List

Every community the group has built or signed, at home and abroad:

Tilal Al Ghaf, Dubai – a 3 million sq.m. lagoon community in Dubailand, with Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai inside its boundary
Ghaf Woods, Dubai – a woodland community beside Global Village
Dubai South master community – a mixed use district close to Al Maktoum International Airport, planned with a large mall; unit details are not out yet
Al Zahia, Sharjah – a joint venture with the Government of Sharjah, with villas, townhouses and apartments next to City Centre Al Zahia
Al Mouj Muscat, Oman – a 2.5 million sq.m. waterfront community developed with the Government of Oman
Tilal Al Irfan, Oman – a residential community in Oman
Waterfront City, Lebanon – a seaside mixed use community at Dbayeh, north of Beirut

Majid Al Futtaim Projects in Dubai

Majid Al Futtaim projects in Dubai are split between 2 communities. Half the neighbourhoods at Tilal Al Ghaf are finished. Every Ghaf Woods project is still under construction.

TILAL AL GHAF

Elan | townhouses | 3 to 4 bedrooms | ready
Aura | twin villas with rooftop sky suites | 3 to 4 bedrooms | ready
Harmony | villas with garden suites | 4 to 5 bedrooms | ready
Alaya | villas | 4 to 6 bedrooms | ready
Elysian Mansions | lagoon, hilltop and park lane mansions | 5 to 6 bedrooms | ready
Amara | twin villas | 3 to 5 bedrooms | under construction
Plagette 32 | beach villas and water bungalows | 4 to 5 bedrooms | under construction
Lanai Islands | island mansions | 7 or more bedrooms | under construction
Serenity Mansions | waterfront mansions | 5 to 7 bedrooms | under construction
Bo Monde | 13 lagoon front mansions | under construction

GHAF WOODS

Serra | apartments | 1 to 3 bedrooms
Cilia | apartments | 1 to 3 bedrooms
Capria East and Capria West | apartments | 1 to 3 bedrooms
Distrikt | apartments and duplexes | 1 to 3 bedrooms
Maravelle | wellness residences | central part of the community
Lyra | 348 apartments | 1 and 2 bedrooms | from AED 1.19 million

Majid Al Futtaim Property Types

Tilal Al Ghaf is where the group sells villas and mansions, from 3 bedroom townhouses up to 8 bedroom homes. Buyers can pick townhouses, twin villas, detached Majid Al Futtaim villas, beach villas, water bungalows, or mansions on lagoon, hilltop and island plots.

Ghaf Woods is where it sells apartments. Majid Al Futtaim apartments there come as 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units, duplexes and penthouses, set among planted trees.

All homes in both communities are freehold. Buyers of any nationality can purchase and hold a title deed in their own name.

Majid Al Futtaim Buyers

Tilal Al Ghaf is designed for families. A villa, a school and open water inside a single gated community suit buyers who plan to stay for years, not months.

Ghaf Woods suits first time buyers, couples, remote workers and landlords who want a 1 bedroom unit to lease. It is the lowest priced way into a Majid Al Futtaim home in Dubai.

The top tier serves ultra high net worth buyers. Lanai Islands starts at about AED 69 million, and Bo Monde and Serenity Mansions target the same buyer.

Is Majid Al Futtaim a Good Investment

Yes, for buyers who hold. The Tilal Al Ghaf developer also owns malls, cinemas and shops across Dubai, so it has a direct reason to keep its Majid Al Futtaim communities well run long after sales close.

Families get an inland beach. Tilal Al Ghaf has a swimmable lagoon with sand and 18 km of walking trails between neighbourhoods.

A single master developer controls every plot. With no outside builders, finishes and landscaping match from cluster to cluster, and apartment buyers at Ghaf Woods get the same control at a far lower ticket.

Majid Al Futtaim Property Drawbacks

Planning to flip? Most plans push a big share of the payment to handover or after it. That rewards owners who hold, not traders who want an early exit.

Need to move in soon? Ghaf Woods has no finished building, and its last phases are years away.

Want launch prices at Tilal Al Ghaf? The developer has sold out there. Resale from current owners is the only route in.

Rely on the metro? Neither Dubai community has a metro station. Daily life needs a car.

Want a studio? There are none. The smallest unit is a 1 bedroom apartment.

Majid Al Futtaim Growth 2020 to 2025

2020 was the pandemic low. 2025 was the best year in the group's history. The change in 5 years:

Revenue: AED 32.6 billion to AED 35.9 billion, up 10 percent
EBITDA: AED 3.8 billion to AED 5.1 billion, up 34 percent
Total assets: AED 59.1 billion to AED 71 billion, up 20 percent
Net result: a loss in 2020 to a profit of AED 3.6 billion in 2025
Homebuilding revenue: up 33 percent in 2025 alone
New Dubai master communities: 2 since 2024

Part of this jump is recovery from COVID-19 mall closures. The stronger signal is that EBITDA passed AED 5 billion for the first time, and the group is signing for new Dubai land again.

Majid Al Futtaim vs Emaar

Emaar is the fairest comparison. Both build homes, and both own major Dubai malls.

Parameter	Majid Al Futtaim	Emaar
Founded	1992	1997
Ownership	Private, Emirati owned	Listed on the Dubai Financial Market
Flagship mall	Mall of the Emirates	The Dubai Mall
Main Dubai communities	Tilal Al Ghaf, Ghaf Woods	Downtown Dubai, Dubai Hills Estate, Dubai Creek Harbour, Emaar Beachfront
First Dubai homes handed over	2023	2002, with more than 80,500 units delivered since
2025 homebuilding revenue	AED 5.8 billion	AED 27.5 billion
Credit rating	BBB	BBB+ and Baa1
Product focus	Villas, mansions and forest apartments	Towers, apartments, townhouses and villas
Latest land move	Airport area community signed in 2026	36 million sq.ft. added in 2025

Emaar wins on scale and choice. MAF wins on lower density and on running the retail around its homes. Pick Emaar for options all over Dubai. Pick MAF for a quieter master community with a single operator in charge.

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