Himanshu SK filmed his farewell on Instagram from a building that has stood on Sheikh Zayed Road since 1974. The Indian expatriate and travel agent spent three years in the Nasser Rashid Lootah Building, known to most Dubaiites simply as the Toyota Building, and his video captured something many long-term residents are feeling: the quiet grief of leaving a place that shaped their lives in the city.
Management of the building, operated by NRL Group, confirmed that demolition is scheduled for 2027. Tenants holding valid rental agreements can remain until December 2026. But many residents are already gone, some forced out after their electricity was disconnected by authorities. Building management attributed those disconnections to the presence of partitioned apartments within the complex. Gulf News has sought additional clarification from relevant authorities on the matter.
For SK, the loss is practical as much as personal. “The location of the building is one of the best, and it is in a prime area. It will be really difficult to find a place in Downtown Dubai that offers such affordable rents,” he said. He lived in both Block A and Block B over his three years there, and described the building as having been “a huge part of my life in Dubai.”
The departure of residents has accelerated sharply in recent weeks. A restaurant on the ground floor confirmed it remains open for now but expects to close as the exodus continues. A minimart inside the building told Gulf News it would shut within two to three days. Staff at both establishments said the majority of residents have already vacated.
Several long-term residents, who requested anonymity, told Gulf News they have spent decades in the building and feel a deep connection to it. They watched Sheikh Zayed Road transform around them, from a relatively underdeveloped stretch into one of Dubai’s most commercially vibrant corridors. Their accounts carry the weight of people who did not just witness the city’s growth, they lived inside it.
The building itself is a physical record of that growth. Completed in 1974, the 15-storey residential complex stands approximately 65 metres tall and was among the first three structures built near the First Roundabout on Sheikh Zayed Road. Its one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments have housed generations of residents across five decades.
The bright red Toyota sign that crowned its rooftop gave the building its popular name. First installed in 1981, the neon logo became a recognizable beacon along the busy thoroughfare for roughly four decades. The sign came down in 2018 when the advertising contract expired, leaving a gap that many residents and commuters noticed. Toyota UAE reinstalled the emblem in June 2022, restoring the familiar landmark after a hiatus of nearly four years.
By 2027, both the sign and the structure beneath it will be gone. For those who called it home, the building represents more than a residence. It marks a particular era of Dubai’s development, and a community of people whose lives intersected within its walls. The immediate challenge for departing residents is finding affordable housing near a prime location in a market where that combination has become genuinely scarce. Whether anything comparable exists for them in Downtown Dubai is a question many are now trying to answer.