THE DECISIONS BEFORE THE DEVELOPMENT
Development doesn’t need a crowd.
It needs a few with a clear view.
An independent strategic development partner.
Alongside you, from the earliest decision
through implementation.
THE ART OF THE REALBEFORE THE BRIEF. BEFORE THE COMMITMENT.
An investment ambition, large or small.
The critical work is connecting the questions: what to develop, for whom, with whom, and on what commercial basis.
Midara brings development, commercial, market and local intelligence together, establishing a clear pathway and carrying that intent into delivery.
02 — THE MIDARA APPROACH
Four actions. One connected perspective.Aligning commercial objectives, a sense of place and the expertise needed to carry the strategy into implementation.
01 / SHAPE
Understand the land, the market, the people and the investment ambition. Test what the opportunity should become before design and capital lock in assumptions.
What should this become — and why?
THE WORK BEHIND THE DECISION
Development strategy · Feasibility · Highest and best use · Destination positioning
WHERE WE COME IN
The mandate begins with the decision ahead.
An undeveloped site. An investment opportunity. An existing offering seeking the right partners. Midara helps establish the direction, identify aligned interests and shape the relationships and framework needed to move forward.
01 / LAND & POTENTIAL
Assess development options, market context and commercial feasibility. Establish the positioning and development brief.
A clear proposition and a reasoned basis for deciding what to pursue.
02 / OPPORTUNITY & STRUCTURE
Shape the commercial framework, clarify partner and operator requirements, and establish governance and the implementation pathway.
An opportunity organised around clear responsibilities, relationships and next steps.
03 / PARTNERSHIPS & ALIGNMENT
Identify and assess potential partnerships, connecting investors, developers, operators and institutions whose objectives and capabilities complement one another. Bring existing assets, offerings and development opportunities into conversations with suitable partners.
A clear basis for collaboration—grounded in shared objectives, complementary strengths and commercial alignment.
04 / LEADERSHIP & CONTINUITY
Represent the client, assemble and coordinate specialists, and oversee development decisions through design, procurement and delivery.
Senior involvement that keeps commercial objectives and development execution connected.
Each mandate is tailored: a focused strategic assignment, a defined phase of development, or continuing client representation.
Discuss your development ↗04 — SAUDI ARABIA & THE HOLY CITIES
International perspective. Local intelligence.MAKKAH ■ MADINAH
How do we serve people better?
Makkah and Madinah hold an enduring place in people’s lives. Their next chapter is taking shape at a new scale: Saudi Arabia welcomed 18.03 million international Umrah pilgrims in 2025 and targets 30 million annually by 2030.
For Midara, that scale raises a development question: how can investment enrich the visitor journey while strengthening the everyday life of each city?
Midara’s perspective connects hospitality, education, culture, wellness, public realm and family life. Places that welcome visitors while remaining useful and relevant to the people who call them home.
For international investors, we connect investment expectations with locally executable development strategy — bringing the opportunity, its context and the right specialist expertise into the same conversation.
Midara helps clients navigate the regulatory requirements, cultural nuances and institutional relationships that shape development in Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC. We connect clients with relevant local expertise and coordinate specialist input, bringing the local context into commercial and development decisions from the outset.
Explore our thinking on enduring places ↓2025 · RECORDED
18.03mInternational Umrah pilgrims welcomed to Saudi Arabia in 2025.
Pilgrim Experience Program ↗2030 · NATIONAL TARGET
30mInternational Umrah pilgrims annually targeted by Saudi Vision 2030.
Saudi Vision 2030 · 2025 report ↗The figures describe international Umrah pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. The 2030 figure is a national target. Sources reviewed September 2026.
05 — EXPERIENCE BEHIND MIDARA
Selected founder experienceThree decades spanning commercial strategy, governance, design and development—informing each decision through an understanding of the whole.
THE DEVELOPMENT QUESTION
Brought together the municipal lease, joint-venture and operator agreements, support for the SPV, design development, infrastructure procurement, value engineering and main-contract appointment.
The connection: agreements, governance and design carried through to procurement.
THE DEVELOPMENT QUESTION
Led the Misk / Riyadh Schools business plan, negotiated contract terms alongside KEC’s legal counsel and closed the agreement. Established the development and design team, with weekly progress oversight and early identification of risks.
The connection: the institutional relationship, commercial framework and development process considered together.
THE DEVELOPMENT QUESTION
Assembled and led the consultant team for the Destination Bahrain strategy, connecting market assessment, tourism and infrastructure opportunities, feasibility and the available land bank. The strategy became a blueprint for the nationwide project plan over the following 10 years.
The connection: a destination proposition translated into a programme of potential developments.
06 — WHAT WE DO
Midara brings these disciplines together around your development mandate. Our role can begin with a specific decision and extend into the coordination and oversight needed to carry it through.
Development strategy and feasibility. Highest and best use. Masterplan and development briefs. Destination and market positioning.
Commercial and joint-venture structuring support. Negotiation and due-diligence coordination. Governance, risk, phasing and implementation planning.
Investor, developer, operator and institutional partnerships. Assessment of strategic fit and commercial alignment. Specialist team selection, design and procurement strategy.
Client representation. Development and delivery oversight. Design governance. Marketing, sales and leasing strategy aligned with the original proposition.
07 — FOUNDED BY MIREILLE BABTI
Commercial strategy. Governance.
Development. Design vision.
Midara draws on more than two decades of the founder’s development leadership across Australia and the GCC, spanning waterfront developments, masterplanned communities, tourism destinations and institutional partnerships.
The founder’s background in law, architecture, project management and business informs an integrated approach, connecting the investment ambition with the physical, contractual and operational decisions needed to realise it.
Beyond the founder’s own experience, Midara draws on an established network of specialist collaborators. Expertise is brought in at the stages where it adds most value, matching each development’s needs with professionals selected for their depth of knowledge and relevance to the task.
QUALIFICATIONS & CREDENTIALS
Master of Business Administration · Master of Project Management
Bachelor of Law · Bachelor of Architectural Engineering
Certified Independent Director — Hawkamah / Mudara Institute of Directors, UAE (2016).
Executive judgment. Micro- and macro-level involvement.
08 — IDEAS FOR ENDURING PLACES
Woven into the life of a place.
Examining the enduring role of Awqaf as a pillar of social sustainability, and exploring how its principles can once again be meaningfully woven into real estate development, destination-making and the long-term life of our cities. This research also considers how emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, can support that enduring purpose in a changing urban world.
Coming soon
09 — EXECUTIVE WORKSHOPS
From experience to shared understanding.Practical workshops for leaders and teams navigating development decisions. Three connected areas of learning, grounded in the relationship between commercial ambition, governance and implementation.
Connect the investment ambition with a clear development brief, decision-making structure, responsibilities and a pathway to implementation.
Explore plausible scenarios, test assumptions and understand how changing market, economic and social conditions could shape an opportunity.
Examine commercial, contractual, design and delivery risks, their interdependencies, and the governance needed to identify and manage them.
10 — SPEAKING & CONFERENCES
Selected founder engagementsSpeaking and panel contributions on real estate development, investment, governance and the future of places. Midara welcomes opportunities to contribute to forums that advance the industry, challenge established thinking and shape the future of development.
London & Madinah · Speaker / Presenter
Madinah Chamber of Commerce · Panellist
State-Owned Enterprises · Armani Hotel · Panellist
Real estate panels · Panellist
Bahrain Chamber of Commerce · Speaker on real estate development
11 — YOUR NEXT CHAPTER
In Saudi Arabia and across the GCC.
Whether you’re a bank, an investor or a real estate developer,
let’s begin a conversation.
info@midaradevelopment.com