NEOM City has started building the residential area by awarding contracts for construction, financing, and operation of residential complexes to two national companies. These contracts are NEOM’s first investment opportunities offered to construction companies to work on the project. The residential area will provide workers with a lifestyle aimed at creating a healthy working environment in line with NEOMs objectives, as life quality is one of the project’s main pillars. Two Saudi companies, Al-Tamimi Group and Saudi Arabian Trading & Construction Co. (SATCO), won contracts for the construction of the complexes, with a capacity to house over 30,000 workers. The contract allows the companies to operate the housing for 10 years. The areas will be part of a “Construction Village,” which NEOM plans to expand to accommodate more than 100,000 workers. The residential area is an extension of other logistics facilities to facilitate the movement of construction workers to the project site. This was preceded by the opening of “NEOM Bay” Airport to be a commercial airport with regular weekly flights connecting NEOM with the capital, Riyadh. “We expect the work on developing such a project to last for many years, so moving to NEOM for work and life for a long time is critical,” NEOM Chief Executive Nadhmi al-Nasr said. For this reason, he added: “We were keen to provide high life quality for whoever moves to work and live there and provide an investment opportunity for developers in line with NEOM’s objectives to attract investors.” “The awarding of these contracts is another milestone in our journey to turn the NEOM dream into a reality,” Nasr noted. Such a megaproject “requires manpower to settle there for years to come,” he stressed.