Dragos Mihalte.
Portfolio · Entry Luxury

The Archive.

Dubailand Residence Complex, Dubai · Imtiaz Developments
The two storey library at the entrance to The Archive, with a spiral stair rising through the bookshelves

The project

The Archive is a residential building in Dubailand Residence Complex, arranged around a library rather than a conventional lobby. Two storeys of shelves rise from the ground floor, wrapped by a spiral stair, and the reception desk is built from bound books. The developer describes the collection as around ten thousand volumes, intended to be read rather than displayed.

The idea carries into the residences themselves. Each apartment is planned on the assumption that the owner keeps books, with shelving built in, a reading light placed where a hand would reach for it, and a chair set where the room turns towards the glass. A writer's room sits off the main library for people who want a door that closes, and a reading lounge and a rooftop reading salon extend the same theme upwards.

The building is configured as a basement, ground floor, three podium levels, thirteen residential floors and a roof. The mix runs from studios to three bedroom apartments. Handover is expected in the third quarter of 2028.

I like this project for what it does with a crowded segment. Dubailand Residence Complex has a great deal of competing supply at similar prices, and most of it is difficult to tell apart. A building with a genuine and unusual amenity at its centre is easier to let, easier to resell and easier to explain to a tenant. Whether the library is maintained to the standard shown in the renderings is the question I would keep asking, and it is a question about the developer rather than about the design.

The rooftop pool at The Archive, with loungers, shaded seating and planting above the city

Prices and sizes

Starting prices and published size ranges by typology. Sizes include balconies.

Off plan, launch pricing
TypologySize range (sq ft)Starting price
Studio384 to 426AED 666,000
One bedroom, compact546 to 1,053AED 979,000
One bedroom, executive605 to 1,234On request
Two bedroom1,022 to 1,686AED 1.55 million
Three bedroom1,305 to 1,884AED 1.9 million

Convert this price

Read any price per square foot and per square metre, in seven currencies at once.

Enter a price and a size to see the conversions.

CurrencyTotalPer sq ftPer sq m

Prices here are quoted and contracted in dirhams. Every other figure is an indicative conversion, not a quotation.

Why the same property produces such different numbers, and how the figure is read in China and India: the full converter.

Payment plans

Two plans are offered. The first instalment includes the four per cent Dubai Land Department fee and an administration fee.

Plan one, fifty during construction and fifty on completion
InstalmentPaymentDue
First20 per cent, plus 4 per cent DLD fee and administration feeOn booking
Second to seventh5 per cent eachSix dates between November 2026 and July 2028
On completion50 per centQ3 2028
Plan two, sixty during construction and forty after handover
InstalmentPaymentDue
First20 per cent, plus 4 per cent DLD fee and administration feeOn booking
Second to seventh5 or 10 per cent each, 40 per cent in totalSix dates between November 2026 and July 2028
Post handover40 per cent, at 3.3 per cent quarterlyOver three years from handover

The post handover plan carries a ten per cent premium on the purchase price. The full instalment schedule with individual dates is set out in the brochure below.

Amenities

The amenity list is built around reading, rest and the roof.

Location

Dubailand Residence Complex sits between Dubai Al Ain Road and Emirates Road, south east of the established centre. It is a residential district rather than a destination, which is precisely why the pricing is where it is, and it is close to the academic and technology clusters that generate its tenant demand.

Indicative driving times, per the developer
DestinationBy car
Dubai Academic City5 minutes
Dubai Outlet Mall5 minutes
IMG Worlds of Adventure10 minutes
Global Village10 minutes
Mohammed Bin Rashid Library15 minutes
The Dubai Mall20 minutes
Dubai Creek Harbour20 minutes
Dubai Design District20 minutes
Dubai International Airport20 minutes

Driving times are the developer's estimates and I would treat them as off peak. A metro station is marked as upcoming on the developer's district map, close to Emirates Road. I would not price that station into a purchase until a delivery date is published.

The developer

Imtiaz Developments is a Dubai based developer that states it was founded in 1993 and that it has delivered more than two thousand units across more than fifty projects, with a portfolio it values at AED 15 billion. It works as an integrated business, holding design, construction, joinery, aluminium and glass, property management and after sales inside the group rather than contracting them out.

Imtiaz is active across Dubailand Residence Complex, where it has built the Cove series and several other buildings, so The Archive sits within a district the developer already knows. Those figures come from the developer's own material and I have not independently verified them. If you are buying off plan, the delivery record is the part worth checking, and I am happy to go through it with you.

Watch

A short film on the building and the library at its centre.

Film about The Archive by Imtiaz
The Archive by Imtiaz

Resources

Speak with me about this

WhatsApp  ·  dragos.mihalte@savills.me

Dragos Mihalte, Private Real Estate Investment Advisor, Savills Middle East. Renderings are indicative. Details, availability and pricing are confirmed on request and may change.