Ajay Rajendran and Meraki's rise signal a new operator class reshaping GCC hospitality-led real estate

A new breed of operator emerges in the Gulf

The GCC real estate market, valued at USD 141.2 billion in 2025 according to IMARC Group, is no longer defined solely by the mega-developers that dominated the post-2008 cycle. A distinct class of operator is ascending, one that fuses hospitality DNA with real estate development at institutional scale. At the forefront of this shift stands Ajay Rajendran, Founder and Chairman of Meraki Group, a multinational enterprise spanning real estate, education, and construction that has completed over 100 major projects across the UAE, as reported by Entrepreneur Middle East.

Rajendran's trajectory illustrates a broader structural phenomenon. Indian-born entrepreneurs are no longer peripheral participants in GCC real estate. They are building vertically integrated platforms that compete directly with established regional developers, and in many cases, they are doing so with a sharper thesis around branded and hospitality-led residential product.

The numbers reinforce the momentum. Dubai real estate transaction values surged 28.3% year-over-year to AED 554.1 billion in the first three quarters of 2025, according to GRI Institute research. Within that surge, branded residences have emerged as a defining asset class. Knight Frank projects the global branded residences sector will expand to 1,019 schemes by 2030, with unit numbers surging to over 162,000, heavily driven by Middle East momentum. Branded residences in prime GCC markets like Dubai and Abu Dhabi already command 10-15% higher capital appreciation compared to non-branded counterparts, according to Omnia Capital Group.

This is the terrain on which Meraki and its peers are building.

What makes hospitality-led real estate platforms different from traditional GCC developers?

Traditional GCC development has historically followed a land-bank-and-build model: acquire large parcels, master-plan communities, and sell units off-plan to capture speculative demand. The hospitality-led model operates on a fundamentally different logic. It begins with the end user's experience, layering service infrastructure, brand partnerships, and operational capability into the asset from inception.

For Meraki Group, this means constructing a platform that treats each project as both a development and an operating asset. The completion of over 100 major projects across the UAE reflects a pipeline orientation that values execution velocity and operational credibility over sheer land accumulation. The distinction matters for capital partners. Institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, and global hotel brands increasingly prefer developer-operators who can deliver and manage assets, rather than developers who exit at handover.

The hospitality-to-real-estate thesis also carries a structural pricing advantage. The 10-15% capital appreciation premium that branded residences command in Dubai and Abu Dhabi is a direct function of the service layer that hospitality-trained operators embed in their projects. This premium compounds over time, creating a virtuous cycle: higher exit values attract higher-quality capital, which funds more ambitious projects, which attract stronger brand affiliations.

This model is gaining traction precisely because the GCC market is maturing. As IMARC Group projects, the GCC real estate market is expected to reach USD 260.3 billion by 2034, exhibiting a CAGR of 7.03%. Growth of that magnitude requires institutional-grade operators capable of absorbing capital at scale while maintaining product quality. The era of the pure speculative developer is giving way to the era of the platform operator.

How is regulatory modernization enabling cross-border operators like Ajay Rajendran?

Two regulatory shifts in 2025 created tangible structural advantages for professional, cross-border operators.

First, Abu Dhabi Law No. (2) of 2025 amended existing legislation to introduce stricter escrow controls. The law prohibits the use of escrow funds for land acquisition or brokerage fees and requires developers to complete at least 20% of a project before accessing escrowed funds. Effective since August 2, 2025, this regulation penalizes undercapitalized or speculative developers while rewarding operators with strong balance sheets and construction track records. For a group like Meraki, with demonstrated execution across more than 100 projects, stricter escrow rules function as a competitive moat rather than a constraint.

Second, Saudi Arabia's Royal Decree No. (M/14) of 2025 approved the Real Estate Ownership Law by Non-Saudis, replacing the 2000 law. Effective since January 21, 2026, it establishes a zoning-driven framework allowing foreign individuals and entities to own real estate and in rem rights within designated Geographical Zones. This decree is transformative for Indian-born operators seeking to extend their platforms beyond the UAE. Saudi Arabia's real estate revenues are projected to grow to USD 201.4 billion by 2030, according to Grand View Research and King & Spalding. The new ownership framework provides the legal infrastructure for operators like Rajendran to participate in that growth directly, rather than through local partnership structures that dilute control and returns.

Taken together, these regulatory developments reward precisely the profile that Meraki and its cohort represent: well-capitalized, operationally credible, and structurally equipped to navigate cross-border complexity.

Where does Meraki sit in the competitive landscape of Indian-origin GCC operators?

Ajay Rajendran operates within a visible cohort of Indian-origin leaders who are reshaping capital allocation across the Gulf's built environment.

Abhishek Lodha, MD and CEO of Macrotech Developers, represents the institutional Indian developer with global brand ambitions. Following a family mediation settlement in April 2025, as reported by Hindustan Times, Lodha retained exclusive rights to the 'Lodha' brand name, resolving a dispute that had clouded the group's international expansion prospects. The Lodha brand carries significant weight in luxury residential markets, and its potential deployment in GCC branded residences would add another dimension to the Indian operator presence in the region.

On the sovereign capital side, Navid Chamdia, Head of Real Estate at the Qatar Investment Authority, was appointed as a Board Member of Katara Hospitality in July 2025. Chamdia's dual role positions him at the intersection of sovereign capital deployment and hospitality asset strategy, precisely the intersection where operators like Rajendran seek partnerships. The QIA's real estate allocation decisions ripple across the region, and the presence of leaders with deep understanding of both hospitality and institutional real estate at the helm of sovereign capital vehicles signals alignment between capital supply and operator capability.

The competitive dynamics are instructive. Established GCC developers such as Emaar, Aldar, and ROSHN command massive land banks and government relationships. Indian-origin operators compete on a different axis: operational agility, hospitality expertise, cross-border capital networks, and an ability to deliver branded product at speed. The market is large enough, and growing fast enough, to accommodate both models. The GCC's projected trajectory to USD 260.3 billion by 2034 implies substantial absorption capacity across segments.

Meraki's differentiation lies in the breadth of its platform. By spanning real estate, education, and construction, the group captures value across multiple points of the development chain. This vertical integration reduces dependency on external contractors, improves margin control, and provides the operational depth that institutional capital partners demand.

The institutional implications for GCC real estate

The rise of operators like Ajay Rajendran carries implications beyond individual corporate success. It signals a structural shift in how GCC real estate markets allocate opportunity.

First, the hospitality-led model is raising the quality baseline across the market. As branded residences become the default expectation in prime segments, developers who cannot deliver service-integrated product will face margin compression and capital flight. The 10-15% appreciation premium for branded product is a market signal that operators ignore at their peril.

Second, regulatory modernization is accelerating institutional participation. Abu Dhabi's escrow reforms and Saudi Arabia's foreign ownership decree are deliberately designed to attract professional operators while filtering out speculative entrants. The operators who thrive in this environment will be those who treat compliance infrastructure as a strategic asset.

Third, the convergence of Indian entrepreneurial capital, Gulf sovereign wealth, and global hospitality brands is creating a new institutional architecture for the region. GRI Institute's ongoing research and convening activity across the GCC provides a forum where these relationships form and deepen. Members of the GRI Club have observed this convergence firsthand at regional gatherings, where developer-operators, sovereign fund managers, and brand executives negotiate the partnerships that define the next cycle.

Ajay Rajendran and Meraki Group represent one node in this emerging architecture. Their trajectory, from project execution to platform building to cross-border expansion, offers a template that other operators will seek to replicate. The question for the market is whether the GCC's regulatory and capital infrastructure can scale as fast as the ambition of its newest institutional builders.

The evidence, from transaction volumes to regulatory reform to capital appreciation premiums, suggests it can.