Development in this area commenced in the early 1920s when affluent Christian Arab merchants from Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Ramallah acquired land to construct private residences or rental properties.

[2] The land for constructing the neighborhood was acquired either directly from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate or through Constantine Salameh, an Arab Christian who purchased large plots and subdivided them.

[2] After World War I, Salameh, a native of Beirut married to Catherine "Katy" Aboussouan of the centuries-old Palestinian Catholic family, bought land in Talbiya from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate with the idea of building a prestigious neighborhood for Middle Eastern Christians.

[2] Villa Salameh (1930), currently housing the Belgian Consulate at 21 Balfour Street, was designed in Art Deco style by French architect, Marcel Favier [fr].

[6] The streets of Talbiyeh are named after influential figures in Jewish history, such as Lord Arthur Balfour and Ze’ev Jabotinsky.

[2] The neighborhood's prestige is evident in its proximity to significant state and municipal buildings, including Beit HaNassi – the official residence and office of the President of Israel, Hansen House, the Jerusalem Theatre, the National Academy of Sciences, the Van Leer Institute, and the Museum for Islamic Art.

[9] Selling the areas to a third hand aside the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the JNF, puts the Israeli tenants, which most of them are elderly, under an economic uncertainty, while their real estate's value goes down.

In the beginning of 2018, Jerusalem Municipality joined the Israeli Government and refused to release the lands overwhelmingly, claiming it had to evaluate every leased estate for its betterment levy.