Sobha Group Marks 50th Anniversary Milestone Alongside Sobha Sanctuary Launch
Sobha Group Marks Five Decades of Growth With Record-Scale Dubai Launch
The Sobha Group marked its 50th anniversary in May 2026, coinciding with the announcement of Sobha Sanctuary, the developer's most expansive masterplan to date. The milestone underscores half a century of evolution from a regional interior decoration practice to a multinational real estate powerhouse operating across the Middle East, South Asia, and beyond.
Origins in Oman, 1976
The group was established in 1976 as an interior decoration firm in Oman by P. N. C. Menon. By 1984, the business had established itself as a premier interior outfit on its course to win big contracts, and through demonstrated excellence, the company went on to work for the royalty of Oman, Bahrain, Brunei, Qatar, and the president of Tajikistan. Menon spent the most glorious part of his career designing and developing palaces, royal facilities, and mosques, with the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque standing as a testament to his craftsmanship.
In 1995, he founded Sobha Developers, headquartered in Bangalore, marking the group's formal entry into residential real estate. In 2003, Mr. Menon expanded his entrepreneurial footprint to Dubai, where Sobha Realty was established with a mission to provide residential development, construction, glazing, metal works, and furniture manufacturing.
Sobha Sanctuary: Scale and Vision
Sobha Realty announced the launch of Sobha Sanctuary, a sprawling Dh50 billion, 37.5-million-sq-ft development that underscores Dubai's continued appetite for large-scale, amenity-rich residential districts. Sobha Sanctuary is planned to eventually accommodate about 20,000 families through roughly 20,000 homes, including 18,000 apartments and 2,000 villas.
Spanning about 37.5 million sq ft, the project is located off Al Ain Road, close to Sobha Elwood, and will be delivered in multiple phases over four to eight years, with first handovers expected from the third quarter of 2029, with prices starting from Dh3.99 million.
Wellness and Community Infrastructure
Sobha Sanctuary is planned to include two international schools, a hospital facility, and a large retail offering distributed across the masterplan. Green spines connect residential areas to these amenities, encouraging walking and cycling while reducing reliance on cars.
At the centre of the community sits a large destination park, positioned as the social and recreational heart of the project, surrounded by a community mall, a wellness centre, and a wide range of active amenities including football grounds, running tracks, padel courts and a skate park, with four green corridors extending across the site, feeding into a six-kilometre leisure loop and a wider nine-kilometre wellness loop along the perimeter.
Backward Integration and Quality Control
The company's backward-integrated model — covering design, engineering, and construction — has been a cornerstone of its pitch to buyers seeking quality assurance amid the city's surging off-plan activity. Managing Director Francis Alfred described the project as a landmark moment for the group and an expression of its long-term strategy to deliver wellness-driven neighbourhoods.
Market Context
Developers have been accelerating launches amid rising population inflows, with master communities becoming a defining theme of the current market cycle. As Dubai's population continues to climb and its property market maintains record-level absorption, large master developments such as Sobha Sanctuary are expected to play a central role in shaping the next phase of residential expansion, with phased delivery over the coming years setting the project to become one of the city's defining community hubs in the evolving landscape of premium, integrated living.
Broader Footprint
Beyond Sanctuary, Sobha Realty has 15 masterplans across the UAE with the flagship Sobha Hartland community home to 11,000-plus residents, while Sobha Siniya Island, the developer's first island project, features luxury villas, mansions, and resorts. In April 2026, Sobha Realty entered Abu Dhabi with Sobha City, marking the developer's first large-scale community in Abu Dhabi, expanding its footprint beyond Dubai and Umm Al Quwain into a market that continues to see steady residential demand.