Two lagoons, two stalled atoll plans, three governments.
The long-lease foreign model did not start in September 2026. It was built in stages, from resort leases to special zones to a 2025 “sustainable township” category. This page sets earlier deals beside Ras Malé on the same questions: who is behind them, how they were awarded, what the state gets, and what happens when the lease ends.
Schematic, not to scale. Select a project to jump to it.
Five deals, from north to south
Each pin is coloured by where the project stands today, using the same marks as the ledger.
Under construction
Opening announced
Terms signed, contract unpublished
Stalled or not built
Side by side
“Not public” means the monitor has not found the information in an official or reported source. Those gaps are part of the finding.
Question
Ras Malé
Ayla
Amanolu (Fohtheyo)
iHavan
Faafu
Atoll
Kaafu, next to Malé
Noonu
Vaavu
Haa Alif
Faafu
Government
Muizzu, 2026
Leased under Solih, 2022; township under Muizzu, 2025
Solih, 2023
Yameen, 2014
Yameen, 2017
Who is behind it
Eagle Hills (Abu Dhabi), chairman Mohamed Alabbar
Crystal Holdings, with Dubai-based BluRock as shareholder. BluRock’s founder sits on a bank board chaired by Alabbar. See the connection
Aman Group, chairman Vlad Doronin. Leaseholding company not public
No developer chosen
Saudi-linked investors, not named
Legal route
Real Estate Law, still being drafted
SEZ Act, sustainable township
Tourism Act, cross-subsidy lease
SEZ Act
Not disclosed
Area
About 500 ha
Two lagoons and an island
About 400 ha sought; minister says 750 ha
Atoll-scale plan
Not disclosed
How chosen
Developer’s own proposal (PSIP), no tender
Resort lease, then SEZ permit and investment agreement
Cross-subsidy for airport financing
Government-led studies
Not disclosed
Upfront payment to state
None; 10% revenue share
Not public
None claimed; airport instead
Not reached
Not reached
Homes for foreign buyers
Yes, leasehold
Yes, township homes
16 branded residences
Real estate planned
Residences described
Residency link
Corporate residence visa possible, says minister; no PR claimed. President denied Pearl Residence use in June
Pearl Residence programme, designed with Henley & Partners, cited at groundbreaking
Not stated
Not reached
Not reached
When the lease ends
Buy-back claimed, not detailed
Not public
Tourism Act rule applies
Not reached
Not reached
Contract public
No
No
No
No contract
No plan published
Status
Commercial terms only
Ground broken
Opening 2028 announced
Revival announced 2023
Did not proceed
The projects
Noonu Atoll, SEZ sustainable township
Project Ayla
Ground broken
What was promised
Value
More than USD 790 million
Sites
Dhigufaru and Dhekenanfaru lagoons, Kuramaadhoo
Uses
Luxury residences, resort and marina; healthcare centre; hospitality school; aquaculture and agriculture
Energy
At least 60% renewable
Target
2028
What happened
2022
About 745 ha of lagoon and Dhekenanfaru island leased for 99 years as a resort site, then called Ayla Maldives, through an unsolicited proposal, without a tender. Reported fee to the state: USD 27 million (22 million, plus 5 million to extend the lease to 99 years)
Mar 2025
Initial township permit
9 Dec 2025
Full permit
31 Dec 2025
Investment agreement; SEZ designated by decree
29 Jan 2026
Ground broken by the President
Aug 2026
Eighth EIA addendum: 25 islands and islets, including a golf island and an enlarged royal island. Hospital, school and farms required of a township not yet in the EIA filings; ministry says the operating licence depends on them
Relevance to Ras Malé. Ayla shows that a lease can change owners and change category: a 2022 resort lease became, after a new foreign shareholder joined, the country’s first township where foreigners can buy long leases on homes.
52 keys, plus 16 residences of five to ten bedrooms, each on its own island
Concept
27 reclaimed islands, shaped after marine life such as the stingray
Architect
Kerry Hill Architects
In return
Financing for an airport, under the cross-subsidy rules
What happened
2023
Lagoon leased
Objection
Vaavu Atoll Council said it had not consented
Apr 2025
Civil Court dismissed the council’s case on procedure
Sept 2026
Named Amanolu; opening 2028 announced. Construction status not verified here
Relevance to Ras Malé. Fohtheyo is the closest precedent for giving a large lagoon without an upfront fee in exchange for something built for the state: an airport there, 5,000 homes in Hulhumalé for Ras Malé. Both trade-offs depend on terms the public cannot yet read.
In 2017 President Yameen announced a multi-billion-dollar investment for Faafu, described by his office as mixed development, residences, resorts and airports, with Saudi-linked investors. The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party said the atoll was being sold. The government denied any sale.
What happened
Faafu residents protested. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman cancelled a visit. In July 2017 Yameen said political leaders were objecting, and that he would not take responsibility if the investment did not come. It did not. The Saudi embassy said it had no plan to buy an island or atoll.
Relevance to Ras Malé. Faafu was announced without a published plan or named investor. Ras Malé has a named developer, but its signed terms are also unpublished.
The residency link: Henley & Partners and the Pearl Residence
Selling homes to foreigners is one half of the township model. The other half is letting buyers stay. That half is being designed with a private firm.
What the arrangement is
Programme
Maldives Pearl Residence, a residency-by-investment scheme tied to buying real estate
Partner
Henley & Partners, a global residence and citizenship advisory firm. Contracting company: Henley & Partners Immigration Services DMCC, United Arab Emirates
Agreement
Signed 1 July 2025, announced at a business forum in Singapore
How chosen
Henley pitched the programme; the economic ministry accepted it as a private-sector-initiated proposal, the same route later used for Eagle Hills
Henley’s role
Help build the investor-visa framework; support application processing, administration and recommendations. The government decides each application
Who pays
No fees from public funds, says Henley. Applicant fees may fund the programme office, including service providers; Henley may also charge clients directly
Expected revenue
More than USD 1 billion, by the Economic Minister’s “preliminary programme modelling”
How it touches each project
Ayla. At the January 2026 groundbreaking, Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed said Pearl Residence “connects large-scale investment and development with long-term residency.” Foreign-registered companies may buy leasehold homes in the zone.
Ras Malé. In June 2026 President Muizzu said no part of Ras Malé would be given to any party for the Pearl Residence programme. In October the Housing Minister said Ras Malé buyers could apply for the corporate residence visa introduced in 2015, and that purchase would never lead to permanent residency or citizenship. Which visa route applies is not yet in any published text.
The chairman of Eagle Hills and the head of BluRock, the Dubai shareholder in Project Ayla, sit on the same board: Zand Bank in Dubai. Both are developing large leasehold projects for foreign buyers in the Maldives, under the same government, without a tender.
This is a documented business tie between the people behind the two largest foreign real-estate projects in the country. It is not, on present evidence, a shared company. The map shows what is on record, and the gap that is not.
Solid lines are on public record. The dashed line marks a link that has not been shown. On narrow screens, scroll the map sideways.
The chain in words
Mohamed Alabbar founded Eagle Hills in 2014 and chairs it. Eagle Hills signed commercial terms for Ras Malé on 21 September 2026.
Alabbar also chairs Zand Bank, a Dubai digital bank, and holds a stake in it according to Forbes Middle East.
Talha Alhashimi has sat on the Zand board since 2022, first announced as an independent director. Zand’s 2025 governance report describes him as founder and managing director of BluRock Group, and chief executive of HWH Investments.
BluRock Ocean Investments Holding Ltd, Dubai, became a shareholder in Crystal Holdings, the Ayla leaseholder, in April 2024. The Trade Ministry names Crystal Holdings and BluRock Group as Ayla’s principal investors. BluRock markets the project as “The Laurel”.
Ayla’s lease was awarded under the previous government in 2022 to a Swiss-led investor, through an unsolicited proposal. After BluRock joined, the current government created the sustainable township category and made Ayla the first one.
On record
Alabbar chairs Zand Bank and Eagle Hills
Alhashimi sits on the Zand board and heads BluRock Group
BluRock entered Ayla’s leaseholder in April 2024
Neither Ras Malé nor Ayla was put to open tender
Neither contract has been published
Not shown
Any shareholding by Alabbar or Eagle Hills in BluRock or Ayla
Any shareholding by Alhashimi or BluRock in Eagle Hills or Ras Malé
Whether Zand Bank lends to or holds funds for either project
The ultimate owners of BluRock Ocean Investments and Crystal Holdings
What BluRock paid for its stake in Crystal Holdings
Questions the government can answer
Did either company disclose the shared board link when its proposal was evaluated?
Who are the beneficial owners of Crystal Holdings and BluRock Ocean Investments, as filed with the Registrar of Companies?
Will the Ras Malé definitive agreement bar Eagle Hills from selling or sub-leasing components to related parties without approval?
Will any Maldivian escrow for either project be held at, or routed through, a bank connected to either investor?
This section records business positions from public sources. It does not allege wrongdoing by any person or company. Corrections from the people and companies named are welcome and will be published here.
When the lease ends
What happens at the end of a long lease decides whether the land really comes back to the state. Each legal route answers differently. See also explainer 10.
Tourism Act resorts
The island returns to the state. Buildings and items are valued and the former lessee is paid within two years. A new lessee pays the state that value; the former lessee may bid again.
Written in law
SEZ townships
The 2025 township law does not grant freehold. What happens to homes and buildings at expiry is not stated in the summaries the monitor has seen.
Not verified here
Ras Malé
The President says buyers must sell back to the state after 99 years. Eagle Hills published a lease that starts again on each sale. No valuation rule, payment period or re-tender rule has been stated.
Claimed, not detailed
What the 2025 township law allows
Minimum investment
USD 500 million
Required uses
Integrated tourism or large real estate, plus education or healthcare
Utilities
Own energy and waste systems, at least 60% renewable power
Transfer tax on long-lease sales
1%, then 2%, then 3%
Income tax
5% for 10 years, then 10% for 10 years
Other relief
Capital-gains exemption on residential sales; import-duty relief on capital goods
Foreign freehold
Not granted
Ras Malé is not in this category. The Attorney General says it will sit under a Real Estate Law still being drafted, and the government says no SEZ or Tourism Act tax relief applies.
How the model was built
Each government widened what foreign investors can hold. Law marks a change in the rules; Project marks a deal.
Gayoom
1999Law
Tourism Act. Resort leases about 25 years. Land stays with the state.
Nasheed
2010Law
Resort leases extended to 50 years; long leases of resort villas allowed.
Yameen
2014Law
Special Economic Zones Act (Law 24/2014). Long leases and incentives for a single developer in a marked zone.
2014Project
iHavan port city announced in Singapore. See above.
Apr 2015Law
Resort leases to 99 years. Corporate Resident visa for large real-estate investment.
Jul 2015Law
Foreign freehold allowed above USD 1 billion if 70% of the site was reclaimed. No land was sold under it.
2017Project
Faafu plan announced with Saudi-linked investors, then stalled. See above.
Solih
Apr 2019Law
Foreign freehold clause repealed. 99-year lease cap restored.
2018–23Law
Strata leasing added to the Tourism Act; cross-subsidy rules (R-125/2022).
2022Project
Noonu lagoons leased; later Project Ayla. See above.