Power Cuts Drive Tenant Exits at Dubai’s Iconic Toyota Building Ahead of 2027 Demolition
By Thasmiya
One of Dubai’s most recognisable old landmarks is entering its final chapter, as residents continue to leave the famous **Toyota Building on Sheikh Zayed Road** amid power outages, evacuation measures and preparations for its planned demolition in 2027.
Officially known as the **Nasser Rashid Lootah Building**, the 15-storey residential block has stood beside Sheikh Zayed Road for more than five decades.
Recent reports indicate that large parts of the building have already been emptied, while some remaining residents have been seen moving furniture and belongings as electricity remains unavailable in sections of the property.
For long-time Dubai residents, it marks the gradual disappearance of a landmark that existed long before the skyscrapers surrounding it today.
## **What is happening at the Toyota Building?**
The Toyota Building is being cleared ahead of its planned demolition in **2027**.
Building management has been carrying out evacuations in phases, initially focusing on overcrowded and illegally partitioned apartments before the process expanded to other occupants.
Recent reporting indicates that the evacuation is now approaching its final stages.
Some reports say approximately **95% of tenants have already left**, with only a handful of occupied apartments remaining. Other reporting from the evacuation process cited around 70% of the property as having been cleared at an earlier stage.
The building is expected to be completely vacated before demolition preparations advance further.
## **Why are there power cuts?**
Electricity has been unavailable across large sections of the building as the evacuation progresses.
Authorities had also ordered action against illegally partitioned and overcrowded apartments. Some flats were reportedly divided into multiple rooms and accommodated as many as **15 people**.
Electricity connections to some of these properties were disconnected as part of enforcement and safety measures.
Residents have subsequently been seen leaving the building with furniture and personal belongings while power outages continue across parts of the property.
The situation has accelerated the sense that the building’s days as a functioning residential community are coming to an end.
## **Why are residents being asked to leave?**
The evacuation is connected to the condition of the ageing building and its planned demolition.
According to building management cited in recent reports, Dubai Municipality did not approve proposed maintenance works because of the building’s current condition.
Overcrowding and illegally partitioned apartments also became a significant concern.
Dubai authorities have been taking action against unauthorised residential partitions because overcrowding can create fire, electrical, evacuation and general safety risks.
Some residents initially believed the action would affect only people living in partitioned accommodation. However, occupants of company accommodation and other residents subsequently began relocating as the wider evacuation progressed.
## **Can anyone still live there?**
Not every tenant was required to leave immediately.
Reports indicate that residents holding valid rental contracts may be permitted to remain until **December 2026**, depending on their circumstances.
However, many tenants have already chosen or been required to relocate, leaving large sections of the building empty.
Anyone currently living in the property should follow instructions directly from the building management and relevant Dubai authorities rather than relying on general information about the evacuation.
## **The Toyota Building is set to be demolished in 2027**
The building is scheduled for demolition in **2027**, although an exact demolition date has not yet been publicly announced.
The decision will bring an end to more than half a century of the building standing on Sheikh Zayed Road.
Its removal will be particularly noticeable because the tower has survived while almost everything around it has changed.
## **Why is it called the Toyota Building?**
Toyota does not own the building.
Its official name is the **Nasser Rashid Lootah Building**, but generations of Dubai residents came to know it as the Toyota Building because of the enormous red Toyota advertisement displayed on its rooftop.
The sign became so prominent that it effectively became the building’s identity.
For people driving through Dubai decades ago, when Sheikh Zayed Road looked dramatically different, the glowing Toyota sign was an easily recognisable landmark.
## **One of Sheikh Zayed Road’s early buildings**
The building was completed in **1974**, when the area around what was then known as Defence Roundabout looked nothing like modern Dubai.
Instead of today’s dense skyline of hotels, offices and residential towers, the area consisted largely of open land, villas and a small number of substantial buildings.
The Toyota Building stood out prominently.
Over the following five decades, skyscrapers appeared around it while the comparatively modest concrete residential building remained.
That contrast eventually turned it into an unofficial visual record of Dubai’s transformation.
## **The famous Toyota sign disappeared — and returned**
The rooftop Toyota advertisement remained associated with the building for decades before being removed in 2018 after the advertising agreement expired.
Its disappearance generated considerable nostalgia among long-time residents.
Toyota UAE eventually brought the familiar branding back in **2022**, restoring one of Sheikh Zayed Road’s most recognisable old visual landmarks.
Today, the red rooftop branding once again makes the building immediately identifiable against Dubai’s modern skyline.
## **Affordable housing in a prime Dubai location**
Another reason the Toyota Building remained important to residents was affordability.
For years, it provided relatively inexpensive accommodation in an exceptionally central part of Dubai.
Residents could live close to Sheikh Zayed Road, Downtown Dubai, City Walk and public transport without paying the rents associated with many newer towers nearby.
Historical reporting also described the building as popular because of its comparatively affordable apartments and convenient location.
Over time, however, overcrowding and unauthorised partitions became increasingly associated with parts of the property.
## **A landmark filled with expatriate memories**
For many people, the story is not simply about an old building being demolished.
Families and workers from India, Pakistan, the Philippines and numerous other countries have lived in the building over several generations.
Some residents spent years or even decades there.
Its corridors, balconies, small shops and ageing exterior became part of everyday life for thousands of people who watched Dubai transform around them.
That is why news of the evacuation has triggered considerable nostalgia online.
For long-term residents, the Toyota Building represents an older Dubai — before the city became dominated by the high-rise skyline recognised around the world today.
## **Why wasn’t the building simply renovated?**
The possibility of preserving or refurbishing the building has been discussed by residents and architecture enthusiasts over the years.
However, recent reports citing building management say proposed maintenance was not approved by Dubai Municipality because of the structure’s condition.
With the property now being evacuated and demolition planned for 2027, restoration no longer appears to be the path being pursued.
The exact plans for what will eventually replace the building have not been officially confirmed.
## **What happens next?**
The immediate priority is completing the evacuation of remaining residents.
Valid tenancy arrangements are expected to be handled according to the applicable agreements and instructions from management.
Once the property is completely empty, preparations can continue towards the planned demolition in 2027.
Residents passing along Sheikh Zayed Road may therefore still see the Toyota Building for some time, even though life inside it is rapidly disappearing.
## **More than just an old tower**
Architecturally, the Toyota Building may look modest beside the skyscrapers surrounding it.
Historically, its significance is much greater.
When it was completed, Dubai had yet to become the global metropolis it is today. The building subsequently watched Sheikh Zayed Road evolve from a relatively sparse corridor into one of the world’s most recognisable urban skylines.
Old photographs frequently use the tower as a reference point when comparing Dubai then and now.
Its demolition will therefore remove one of the few remaining physical links to that era along modern Sheikh Zayed Road.
## **Why this matters**
The power outages and accelerating tenant departures make it increasingly clear that the Toyota Building’s residential life is coming to an end.
What began with action against overcrowded and illegally partitioned apartments has progressed into a wider evacuation ahead of the building’s planned 2027 demolition.
For the remaining residents, it means finding a new home.
For Dubai, it means saying goodbye to a landmark that has watched the city grow for more than 50 years.
And once the familiar concrete building and its red rooftop sign finally disappear from Sheikh Zayed Road, one of the most recognisable pieces of old Dubai will exist primarily in photographs and memories.
## **Source Credits**
Information source and resource owners: Nasser Rashid Lootah Building management, Dubai Municipality, Khaleej Times, The National, The Week, Manorama Online and Toyota UAE.
Image sources are combined from official, editorial and publicly available resources belonging to the respective source and resource owners.
For corrections or concerns regarding this article, contact concerns@whatmatters.ae.