Cheval Collection, the UK-based luxury hospitality firm, has launched a new development in Dubai, with plans to expand in the UAE and the region as property demand increases.
The project in Dubai South will have 98 serviced hotel apartments ranging from studios to three-bedroom units, and 95 one, two and three-bedroom branded residences. It is scheduled to open in 2030.
Cheval South Bay is the fourth development for the company in Dubai and its sixth in the Middle East. It has two more under-construction properties being built in Saudi Arabia.
Sales for Cheval South Bay are expected to start next year. Prices and the total value of the project have yet to be disclosed.
“Announcing this project today shows what our confidence is like in Dubai, our confidence in the UAE, and our confidence in the wider GCC [Gulf Co-operation Council],” Nick Pilbeam, Cheval Collection’s chief commercial officer, told The National.
“Cheval already operates two properties in Dubai, Cheval Maison The Palm, Cheval Maison Expo City Dubai … in the last six months, in the current situation, they've [performed] well. They've outperformed the market, certainly in occupancy because of this long-stay angle.”
Cheval Maison The Palm and Cheval Maison Expo City, opened in 2023 and 2025, offer serviced apartments. The company also launched a branded residence development in Dubai Island in April.
Cheval's latest announcement comes as property developers continue to launch projects in the UAE despite concerns about the slowing of the market as the Iran war continues.
This week, Dubai’s Nakheel unveiled a 3.8 million-square-metre residential development next to Palm Jebel Ali, with a mix of villas, townhouses and apartments. It will also have education, health care, sport and leisure facilities across 15 neighbourhoods in southern Dubai, with two schools, a hospital and six mosques.
In September, Aldar, Abu Dhabi’s biggest listed developer, and Sharjah-based Arada revealed plans to build new housing projects on Yas Island and at Seih Sdeirah in Abu Dhabi, representing a combined value of about Dh15 billion ($4 billion).
Cheval is also exploring opportunities to start a new project in Abu Dhabi as the emirate’s property market has been performing strongly this year, with real estate transactions surging.
A total of 38,483 transactions worth Dh171.26 billion were registered in Abu Dhabi in the first nine months of 2026, marking a 76.1 per cent increase in value and a 32.8 per cent rise in volume on an annual basis.
“There's a lot going on in the Abu Dhabi real estate market,” Mr Pilbeam said. “I can't talk anything concrete just yet, but it is certainly a city and an area that we're looking at and interested in.”
The privately owned company is also looking to expand in other parts of the Middle East and North Africa region, with a new property launch being planned “in a few weeks time” expected to take its portfolio to about 1,000 units.
“We're clearly on a growth journey. However, we're still very selective about the projects that we go in for. We want to be in prime locations, in tier-one locations, tier-one destinations. We are negotiating multiple projects,” he added.
