Dubai’s Deyaar Development has unveiled one of the tallest residential projects in the UAE, rising to more than 110 floors, as the emirate’s property market continues to perform strongly amid higher demand from buyers.
Downtown Residences, with a height of 445 metres, will be built near Sheikh Zayed Road, Downtown Dubai and Business Bay, the Dubai-listed developer said in a statement on Tuesday.
The project, in the shape of a twin tower, will have 522 homes, including a mix of one to three-bedroom apartments, duplexes, penthouses and an exclusive “royal palace” at the summit. The project is set to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2030.
“We are confident that this landmark project will not only set a new standard for luxury living but also create exciting investment opportunities,” said Saeed Al Qatami, chief executive of Deyaar Development.
Dubai’s property market continues to perform strongly amid government initiatives such as residency permits for retired people and remote workers, as well as the expansion of the 10-year golden visa programme and overall growth in the UAE’s economy amid diversification efforts.
The emirate recorded real estate deals worth Dh761 billion ($207.21 billion) last year, up 20 per cent compared to 2023, with the total number of transactions for the year increasing by 36 per cent to 226,000, data provided by the Dubai Media Office shows.
The property market is also being supported by an influx of ultra-wealthy individuals into the emirate.
In the first quarter, Dubai registered 111 sales of homes valued at more than $10 million. It marks the “highest Q1 result on record” and a 5.7 per cent annual increase to a total value of $1.9 billion, according to a Knight Frank report.
House prices in Dubai surged by 19 per cent last year to Dh1,685 per square foot, with apartment prices up by 18.9 per cent to Dh1,640 per square foot and villas prices by more than 20 per cent to Dh2,009, Knight Frank said in a separate report in March.
However, ratings agency Fitch in a report last month predicted Dubai property prices would fall by 15 per cent this year due to oversupply in the market. It expects unit deliveries in 2025 and 2026 to double compared to 2022 to 2024, “which could cause a price correction”.
Downtown Residences will have five vertical zones, from the “urban oasis” at podium level to the sky mansion, along with outdoor facilities, vertical gardens and community spaces.
The development will have wellness and social hubs, playrooms, multi-function lounges, and social retreats. The tower's sensory oasis will have floating gardens, air yoga zones, AI meditation pods and luxury fitness spaces. The summit society, about 100 storeys up, will feature dining concepts, exclusive lounges and a grand screening room.
Downtown Residences will also have a residents club with AI-powered workspaces, private executive pods and networking hubs for business leaders, Deyaar added.
Earlier this year, the developer revealed that it plans to launch five new property projects worth Dh8 billion in 2025, with four projects to be built in Dubai.
It aims to hit Dh4 billion in sales this year amid continued demand for property in the UAE, he said. The company, which is majority-owned by Dubai Islamic Bank, also launched a similar number of projects last year and achieved total sales of Dh2.5 billion.
“The demand is still there,” Mr Al Qatami told The National at the time. “I think a lot of segments are moving to UAE and Dubai – the high net worth individuals definitely as well as young generation.”
Dubai is already home to the world's tallest tower, the 828-metre Burj Khalifa. Last year, Azizi Developments revealed plans for a Dh6 billion tower called Burj Azizi, designed to stand at 725 metres tall.
UAE developer Select Group is also building the 122-storey Six Senses Residences Dubai Marina.
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
UAE%20SQUAD
%3Cp%3E%0DJemma%20Eley%2C%20Maria%20Michailidou%2C%20Molly%20Fuller%2C%20Chloe%20Andrews%20(of%20Dubai%20College)%2C%20Eliza%20Petricola%2C%20Holly%20Guerin%2C%20Yasmin%20Craig%2C%20Caitlin%20Gowdy%20(Dubai%20English%20Speaking%20College)%2C%20Claire%20Janssen%2C%20Cristiana%20Morall%20(Jumeirah%20English%20Speaking%20School)%2C%20Tessa%20Mies%20(Jebel%20Ali%20School)%2C%20Mila%20Morgan%20(Cranleigh%20Abu%20Dhabi).%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
RESULTS
Lightweight (female)
Sara El Bakkali bt Anisha Kadka
Bantamweight
Mohammed Adil Al Debi bt Moaz Abdelgawad
Welterweight
Amir Boureslan bt Mahmoud Zanouny
Featherweight
Mohammed Al Katheeri bt Abrorbek Madaminbekov
Super featherweight
Ibrahem Bilal bt Emad Arafa
Middleweight
Ahmed Abdolaziz bt Imad Essassi
Bantamweight (female)
Ilham Bourakkadi bt Milena Martinou
Welterweight
Mohamed Mardi bt Noureddine El Agouti
Middleweight
Nabil Ouach bt Ymad Atrous
Welterweight
Nouredine Samir bt Marlon Ribeiro
Super welterweight
Brad Stanton bt Mohamed El Boukhari
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
