Private Developer To Revive Dubai's 'Big Ben' Tower, But Without Clock

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

A private developer is reviving the 'Big Ben' tower in Dubai after purchasing it from a local bank and is set to open its doors in the first quarter of 2027.

“We bought this building last year in July from the Commercial Bank of Dubai for approximately $120 million (Dh440.4 million).

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When we bought it, the idea was not to sell, because there was no freehold law on Sheikh Zayed Road at that time, so the building was a leasehold. We had bought it with the intention of converting it into offices and keeping it in our portfolio and renting it out,” Abbas Sajwani, founder and CEO of AHS Group, told Khaleej Times in an interview on Monday.

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“As the new law came, we decided that it could be a good idea to sell the units as off-plan strata sales. We opened the sales up more than a few months ago and saw great traction. We sold out 95 per cent of the building in just a couple of weeks' time, and we have just a few units left,” added Sajwani, who is also a board member of Damac Group.

According to Skyscraper Center, the UAE is home to over 100 towers of more than 230 metres high.

The AHS founder and CEO is also the son of Dubai-based billionaire Hussain Sajwani, founder of Damac Properties - the largest private master developer in Dubai.

No clock

The tower was previously nicknamed 'Big Ben' as it mirrored London's famous clock tower. Named AHS Tower now, the 70-floor building is over 200 metres tall but will not have the clock.

“We are removing the clock from this tower as we are doing a new facade to give the building a new identity,” he said.

“I chose to buy a tower because of its landmark location, as it is very hard to find any empty land in that location with views of the DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre), the Museum of the Future, the Burj Khalifa, and the sea. Therefore, it made full sense for us to buy and convert it into a prime office tower. Given that the building's structure was already complete, it's a much faster job to finish it than building from scratch,” he added.

Shortage of Grade A offices

Abbas Sajwani emphasised that it will be another“iconic tower” in Dubai and will meet the need for Grade A office space in the city.

“Dubai lacks Grade A offices, and this will be one of the Grade A office towers with a full-glass exterior. We've put in a private members club, business centre, two-floor spa, sauna, steam room, lounge, indoor pool, cigar room, indoor garden, full-floor gym, and triple-height lobby. All these aspects make it pretty unique in terms of an office building,” added the CEO of AHS Group.

Sajwani revealed there are multiple new projects coming in 2026, with a gross development value of over $12 billion (Dh44 billion) by the end of this year.

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