Who Actually Pays for the Five-Star Promise?
Structuring Service Charges for Branded Residences in Saudi Arabia.
A buyer in the Middle East pays a brand premium averaging 44%1, comfortably ahead of the 33% global average, for a branded residence on the expectation that the building will operate like a five-star hotel. That expectation does not fund itself. Someone must design what the service actually costs, and someone must build legal structures that compel every unit owner to pay for it. In Saudi Arabia, where the scale and pace of development are creating new categories of residential product faster than any comparable market, getting both of those things right at the outset is what separates a functioning community from a contractual dispute.