Take a look inside a £160m penthouse: Mercedes-Benz Places is the latest luxury apartment in Dubai

Mega flashy real estate developments and Dubai go hand in hand.

But a growing trend in the UAE city is for big-name companies – think fashion houses and luxury car makers – to team up with developers to co-create branded buildings and apartments.

The latest company to do so is the German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz.

At an event for 20,000 people at Dubai’s Meydan Racecourse, the 65-storey tower was officially unveiled – including one of the most expensive homes in the world, if sold for the asking price of $204 million (£160 million).

Muhammad Binghatti, CEO of developers Binghatti, and Mercedes board member Britta Seeger, arrived on stage in a Vision One-Eleven concept car to reveal finer details about the pairing.

Others currently under construction with Binghatti include a sinuous property with French supercar manufacturer Bugatti and the world’s tallest residential block through a partnership with flashy watchmaker Jacob & Co.

Mercedes’ development is expected to end in the last few months of 2026.

This is Money was shown on the site where the tower will be located, one of the last prime locations in Downtown Dubai.

Each apartment will have a 30-degree slope to ensure that all homes have views of the tallest building in the world: the Burj Khalifa.

At a height of 341 meters it will contain 150 homes, all complete with terraces and private swimming pools.

It will also have 75,000 square meters of solar panels that Binghatti says can charge 40 electric vehicles every day.

Prices start at $2.3 million (£1.8 million) – getting you a two-bedroom home with between 140 and 170 square meters of space on levels 12 to 31.

From there, there are three-bedroom homes on levels 34 through 52, and higher-up penthouses with four bedrooms, five bedrooms and then the jewels in the crown.

First up is the 1,160 square meter Vision EQ Silver Arrow duplex penthouse, followed by the mega 1,620 square meter Uhlenhaut Coupé triplex penthouse, with a truly mind-boggling asking price of $204 million (£160 million).

The triplex comes with a gym, cinema, spa and as many as 20 parking spaces for the buyer’s fleet of luxury motorbikes (not just Mercedes).

Such was the popularity of the project that half of the homes were sold at launch and two-thirds were sold within a month.

Dubai has become an attractive home for buyers from around the world, helped by the fact that the country has a 4 percent purchase tax, and no income, inheritance or capital gains taxes.

What is happening to house prices in Dubai?

According to Knight Frank, prices of luxury homes around the world increased by 3.1 percent last year.

Leading the way was Manila, Philippines, with prices rising 26 percent over the year. Dubai was in second place, with an increase of 15.9 percent.

It predicts further growth of 5 percent this year, suggesting a slowdown from 2023 and the extreme growth of 2022, when prices rose 44.4 percent.

Meanwhile, according to figures from Savills, prices for prime properties in Dubai rose by 17 percent last year and 12 percent in 2022.

It places Dubai second after Sydney, Australia, for the strongest growth this year between 4 and 5.9 percent.

Experts say prices in Dubai are rising due to an extremely busy buying market driven by wealthy buyers.

At the same time, the number of available first-class homes has fallen sharply.

Faisal Durrani of Knight Frank said: ‘The total number of prime homes for sale fell by 38.5 per cent in Dubai in 2023.

‘Owners are clearly deciding to hold on to their homes for longer, with stock levels falling sharply, signaling the longer-term living mentality now present among the increasingly dominant buy-to-let buyers.’

Knight Frank says a record-breaking 431 sales of $10 million plus properties were made in Dubai last year, including a record high of 56 properties above $25 million.

But Durrani adds: ‘Despite record-breaking luxury home sales, Dubai ranks at the bottom of the world’s most expensive top markets.

‘In our global tracker of 15 prime residential markets around the world, $1 million secures 979 square meters of living space in Dubai, three times more than London, New York or Singapore and around 806 square meters more than first-placed Monaco, where for $ 1 million approximately 172 square meters of space is purchased.

‘Dubai remains one of the most affordable luxury markets in the world, which only adds to its appeal among the international elite who dominate the upper echelons of the market.’

Will McKintosh of Knight Frank added: “Dubai’s housing market is no longer booming. It has emerged.

‘The city’s relative affordability, combined with an unparalleled lifestyle offering in one of, if not the, safest cities in the world, means not only that international second home buyers are turning to the emirate, but that residents of the city are living longer to stay and live longer. roots down.

“This encourages the emergence of highly desirable communities away from the luxury beachfront mansions.”

Take a look inside…

The most common questions during the tour of the development, which broke ground earlier this year, were: will there be a Mercedes dealer and will fans of the German brand be allowed in. The answer to both questions is no.

The connection with Mercedes gives the homes a modern and sleek design appearance, as shown in the images below.

Branded residences on the rise

A big question is: will branded residential buildings ever be a success in London or Britain as a whole?

A recent Savills report on the subject states: ‘Global distribution of branded homes continues to expand, with brands looking for new locations to develop their portfolios.

“This expansion is particularly expanding into emerging markets, where brands are capitalizing on their reputations in regions of rapid economic growth and asset accumulation.”

It says there were 690 completed projects by mid-2023, but there are also more than 600 projects in the pipeline expected to be completed by 2030.

Over the past ten years, the number of branded homes has increased by more than 160 percent.

But much of this growth can be seen in the Middle East and Latin America.

Many of the residences are also connected to hotel groups, but the tide is turning somewhat.

Savills points to fashion houses such as Armani and Versace that have brand residencies, and another car manufacturer: Lamborghini.

But not much of this has been seen in Britain. Could that change in the next ten years?

Savills added: “Millennials and Generation Z, the future buyer base for branded homes, are increasingly – and disproportionately – brand loyal compared to other generations.

“For brands, this loyalty could mean a dedicated buyer base for years to come.”

This suggests that as the younger, more brand-obsessed generations become wealthier, demand in Britain could be the start.

Lee Boyce visited Dubai as a guest of Binghamti.