Mohamed Alabbar: the man behind Belgrade Waterfront

About Mohamed Alabbar: the man behind Belgrade Waterfront

By the ULTIMATE Belgrade Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Mohamed Alabbar is the entrepreneur behind some of the best-known addresses of the 21st century. He founded Emaar Properties in Dubai in 1997, the company that built Burj Khalifa and The Dubai Mall, and went on to found Eagle Hills, the Abu Dhabi developer that is the Republic of Serbia’s partner in Belgrade Waterfront.

From Dubai to the world

Born in Dubai in 1956, Mohamed Alabbar studied finance and business administration at Seattle University on a government scholarship, graduating in 1981. He began his career at the Central Bank of the UAE, and in 1992 became the founding director general of Dubai’s Department of Economic Development, as the city set out to become a global hub for trade and tourism.

In 1997 he founded Emaar Properties. Over the following two decades Emaar built much of the Dubai the world now recognises, from Dubai Marina and Emirates Hills to Dubai Hills and, above all, Downtown Dubai.

The idea that shaped Downtown Dubai runs through all his projects: a landmark, a waterfront, a great mall and fine hotels, planned together as one complete piece of city.

Burj Khalifa and The Dubai Mall

The centrepiece of Downtown is Burj Khalifa, 828 metres tall and opened in 2010, the tallest building in the world, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Around it Emaar created a whole neighbourhood on the shores of Burj Lake: The Dubai Mall, with more than 1,200 stores, the Dubai Fountain, Dubai Opera, the Address hotels and the Armani Hotel inside the tower itself.

Eagle Hills

Alabbar then founded Eagle Hills, a private real estate investment and development company based in Abu Dhabi, which he chairs. Its master-planned communities now reach across Europe, the Middle East and Africa: Belgrade Waterfront in Serbia, Durrës Yachts & Marina in Albania, Riga Waterfront in Latvia, Tbilisi Waterfront in Georgia, Marassi Al Bahrain, Tanja Waterfront in Tangier and the restoration of the Grand Hotel des Bains on the Lido in Venice, among others.

The idea that shaped Downtown Dubai runs through them all: a landmark, a waterfront promenade, a great mall and hotels with international names, planned together as one complete piece of city rather than a single building.

Belgrade Waterfront

Belgrade became the first great European chapter. In 2015 Eagle Hills and the Republic of Serbia signed the partnership that is turning the old railway lands on the Sava into a new city centre. Kula Belgrade, designed by SOM, the architects of Burj Khalifa, is now the tallest building in Serbia and home to The St. Regis Belgrade; Galerija Belgrade, opened in 2020, is billed as the largest shopping centre in Southeast Europe; and the Sava Promenada has given the city its riverbank back.

Beyond property

His interests reach well beyond building. He founded noon, the e-commerce platform launched in 2017 with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund as an equal partner; he is chairman of Americana Restaurants, which runs international restaurant brands across the Middle East and North Africa; and he chairs Zand, a digital bank licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE in 2022.

The next frontier: the Adriatic

The newest chapter is on the coast. In Albania, Eagle Hills is building Durrës Yachts & Marina on the harbour of one of the oldest port cities in the Adriatic, bringing the waterfront formula of Dubai and Belgrade to a city with a Roman amphitheatre and Byzantine walls at its heart.

Seeing his work

In Belgrade the best way to understand the vision is on foot: walk the Sava Promenada from Branko’s Bridge to Kula Belgrade, look into Galerija, then ride up to the Belgrade 360 Deck, where the whole of Belgrade Waterfront lies along the river below you.

Our advice: go up to the 360 Deck at dusk to see the district laid out along the Sava, then walk down to the promenade for dinner by the river.

Mohamed Alabbar at a glance

From Eagle Hills, Emaar, Zand, Seattle University and published business reporting (2026). We publish no figures on personal wealth.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Mohamed Alabbar: the man behind Belgrade Waterfront before you go.