The new Dubai: Wealthy flock to secret boomtown with fast-rising skyline as Middle East exodus fuels rush to the Americas

Dubai has long been presented as the Middle East’s gold-plated success story, with its luxury penthouses, splashy amenities and generous tax breaks, luring the haves and ultra-haves from across the globe.

But as the war with Iran drags on, and uncertainty about the region’s ongoing safety builds, the millions of expats who call the glittering city in the United Arab Emirates home are reconsidering where to house themselves and their billions.

Rubens Brotto, a super prime estate agent in London and the Americas with NestSeekers International, told the Daily Mail that ‘there is a lot of uncertainty’ in Dubai right now.

‘In terms of capital rotation, there is a lot of movement,’ he said. ‘People from London who had moved to the Middle East – mostly Dubai – because of taxes, are making their way back to Europe.’

The Daily Mail has learned that several destinations beyond Europe, too, are emerging as desirable hotspots, in a shake-up that could make the Americas, not the Middle East, the next business capital of the world.

Official figures show one in eight British expats, who make up a significant portion of the city’s residents, evacuated the UAE when missiles started landing in the heart of Dubai. They weren’t alone. American, Latin American and European passport holders made similar ‘wait and see’ exits.

With a population made up primarily of expats – up to 90 per cent by some estimates – a long-term mass exodus from Dubai would challenge the ongoing viability of the Persian Gulf’s most splendid sandbox.

But that could be exactly what’s occurring.

The truth is, it’s difficult to get a clear picture of the true extent of the capital flight, with the Emirate fining, banning or even jailing those who photograph the explosions or make comments perceived to paint the Emirate in a negative light.

When contacted by the Daily Mail, many executives in the region either refused to speak or doubled down on their commitment to the tax haven.

One well-connected Brit living in Dubai said: ‘I’ve had a business in Dubai for 20 years… and don’t see myself or my business moving at this juncture. It’s just business as usual.’

An owner of an international brokerage said they remain hopeful that the situation on the ground in Dubai won’t impact the city’s future.

‘A return to orderly life is just around the corner,’ they said. ‘I believe most are resilient enough to stay put and carry on thereafter.’

But there’s no denying that destinations around the globe are licking their chops at the prospect of gobbling up the significant number of well-heeled nomads who have left the UAE – and they’re rapidly constructing the shiny objects to lure them.

Balneário Camboriú, a Brazilian city few outsiders had ever heard of, is starting to make international waves.

Known as the ‘Brazilian Dubai’ or simply ‘BC’, the beachfront skyscraper city has become the hottest property market in South America, attracting soccer stars and celebs.

Once a quiet fishing village, Balneário Camboriú, like Dubai, was built from scratch. The 965-foot Yachthouse Residence Club served as proof of concept with architecture by legendary Italian car designer Pininfarina. It’s currently the tallest and most luxurious completed tower on the skyline and wealthy Brazilians – like soccer star Neymar Jr – flocked to snag a penthouse.

Pininfarina Chief Architectural Officer, Samuele Sordi, told the Daily Mail that the city of super-tall towers was once ‘a forest of white concrete buildings’ and the rapid, large-scale development is indeed reminiscent of its Middle Eastern model.

‘Brazilians were looking at Dubai as a very exotic destination that is very successful in terms of business,’ said Sordi. ‘They were looking at Dubai as a kind of benchmark.’

Today, Balneário Camboriú boasts five of South America’s seven tallest skyscrapers, including the 951-foot-high One Tower (whose developer, FG Empreendimentos, is partnered with Cristiano Ronaldo) and a forthcoming Lamborghini-branded residential tower.

Now, the Brazilian city has plans to go one better, adding the world’s tallest residential building to its skyline.

Named after Brazilian Formula 1 hero Ayrton Senna, the Senna Tower will top out at 1,785 feet. That’s more than 200 feet taller than New York’s tallest residential tower, Central Park Tower, but still a thousand feet more petite than Dubai’s mixed-use Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest structure.

Senna Tower is loaded with triplex penthouses, mansions ‘suspended’ above the streets, private car elevators, pools, tennis courts, a sprawling wellness center and an observatory in the clouds. Prices start at $5 million – but add a zero to that figure for its best units.

‘It’s very strategic,’ said Brotto, who is marketing the tower in London. ‘Right now, Brazil is a domestic market with a lot of high-net-worth individuals. Senna Tower targets the Brazilian diaspora in Australia, London, New York, Miami, even Dubai, and that grows international awareness. In another decade, it could be competing with Dubai.’

Crucially, it’s already Brazil’s safest city, making it possible to flash some of your cash. It also has access to some of the world’s top private hospitals.

While Brazil has no property tax, Balneário Camboriú is not a tax-free zone. A yacht ride away, however, there are plenty of destinations built – like Dubai – on not paying it.

The Caribbean is home to islands like Grand Cayman and St Kitts and Nevis, that are famous primarily for offshore banking and as tax havens for the world’s richest and their companies. Now, those uncomfortable living in an ongoing war zone are rediscovering what was already there.

Spencer Levine, president of New York City-based developer RAL, told the Daily Mail that Grand Cayman ‘checks a lot of the boxes.’

‘Grand Cayman is uniquely tax-positioned, uniquely business-positioned, along with being an absolute paradise. The stability, the security, the sophistication of the infrastructure, the importance of education in the Caymanian society and the depth of the healthcare system are very similar to the services and infrastructure found in jurisdictions like Dubai,’ he said.

A self-governing and tight-lipped British Overseas Territory, Grand Cayman is perhaps the antithesis to Dubai’s legendarily ostentatious ethos. No gold-plated Ferraris here.

‘It’s a different, more understated vibe,’ said Levine.

But the wealthy in Grand Cayman are about to be a little less stealthy, thanks to RAL’s new development on the island.

This year, the Mandarin Oriental Grand Cayman will open atop the island’s highest point, looking down on the cliff-framed beach. Prices for its 42 units are as high as $12 million, and it’s already 60 per cent pre-sold.

The project gives those who may have considered the Middle East a reason to stay closer to home, said Levine.

‘Buyers have been an interesting mix of US, Canadian and European,’ he said, noting that some are now making the island their permanent address.

Over in the Bahamian district of Exuma – which shuns income, corporate, capital gains and inheritance taxes – a cadre of billionaires are already deep in the process of transforming a previously desolate collection of islands and cays into a sun-soaked paradise.

Known for hosting 2017’s disastrous Fyre Fest, Exuma is now attracting serious players like ultra-luxe cult brand Aman Resorts. It partnered with Swiss entrepreneur and billionaire Dona Bertarelli for its first Bahamian resort in Exuma. Nearby Bulgari Hotels & Resorts have a project on Cave Cay that will feature 48 branded private residences.

Billionaire media mogul Jay Penske – who controversially took $200 million from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in 2018 – is in the mix, too.

His 707-acre Torch Cay is the Bahamas’s largest private island. Its private airstrip will eventually welcome the jets of his deep-pocketed pals to a $170 million clubby residential community that is underway on the island.

Even Miami is getting a fresh gust of buyers from across the Atlantic.

Mike Martirena, a Miami-based broker with Compass, told the Daily Mail he’s seen ‘an influx of buyers due to the war.’ 

‘Dubai was the number one luxury real estate market in the world, and now we’re seeing their buyers here in Miami,’ he said. ‘We have people from the Middle East, and we have Europeans, who were looking to park money in Dubai, looking in Miami.’

Surfside in Miami Beach, along with refined single-family hoods like Coral Gables and Coconut Grove are seeing an uptick in sales, too, brokers said, thanks to the sunshine and the lack of stamp duty on property sales.

New builds like the 73-residence Perigon Residences on Miami Beach have reported that roughly ten percent of their buyers are British – a major demographic shift for a city traditionally fueled by Latin American capital.

‘I recently sold to a client who lived between London and Dubai,’ Martirena said.

‘He called me and said, “Thank God, I’m here. I had trouble getting out, but I got out of Dubai. My friends are coming here, our money is coming here.”‘