Meraas was founded in 2007 as a Dubai Holding entity with a philosophy distinct from most of its peers: placemaking rather than simply building and selling towers. Instead of standalone high-rises, Meraas designs low-and-mid-rise, walkable urban districts where retail, dining, and public space are integrated into the plan from the outset — a model most visible in City Walk, an open-air lifestyle district blending residential towers with retail, entertainment, and the Coca-Cola Arena.

Meraas’s other landmark destinations include Bluewaters Island, home to Ain Dubai — at 250 metres, the world’s tallest observation wheel — and La Mer, a beachfront leisure and dining strip on the Jumeirah coast. Port de La Mer and Madinat Jumeirah Living extended the same design-forward, community-scale approach along Dubai’s central coastline.

In 2023, Meraas was formally consolidated into Dubai Holding Real Estate alongside Nakheel, combining the two developers’ land banks and giving Meraas access to a broader base of hospitality, leisure, and land assets. For buyers, Meraas represents Dubai’s closest equivalent to prime, design-led urban property — scarce, walkable addresses rather than high-volume towers, generally trading at a premium with more modest yields than volume-focused developers.