The Matrix, Dubai Sports City
The Matrix is a 34-storey residential building in Sports City, DubaiLand, Dubai, developed by The First Group. The building holds 381 units, a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments, and was completed in 2014. Royale Stays manages the setup, pricing and guest side of listing a home here for a fee starting from 15%.
Developer
The First Group
Storeys
34
Unit mix
Studio, 1 & 2-bed
Units
381 total
Area
Sports City, DubaiLand
Completed
Complete (2014)
About The Matrix
The Matrix is a 34-storey residential tower in Sports City, DubaiLand, Dubai. It was developed by The First Group, with construction beginning around November 2008 and completed in 2014. The building holds 381 units in total, a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments.
The Matrix is one of four high specification residential buildings The First Group built in Sports City, alongside The Bridge, The Diamond and The Spirit, each a separate standalone tower rather than part of a single complex. The building was recognised at the CNBC Property Awards for Best Residential Architecture, and Dubai Land Department records show an active resale and mortgage financing market at the building, with dozens of registered transactions on file.
Propsearch.ae and Bayut.com both independently confirm the developer as The First Group and agree on 381 units, an exact match. Both sources also agree on 34 storeys: Propsearch.ae states this directly, and Bayut.com's own narrative description confirms "34 floors above ground, a ground floor, a mezzanine floor and three podiums" (a separate structured field on Bayut's own page shows an apparent data-entry error, displaying "2014" where a floor count would normally appear, so the narrative text is used instead). The two sources differ slightly on the completion month only: Propsearch.ae states construction finished in May 2014, Bayut.com states the tower has been operational since November 2014; both agree on the year.
Location & Nearby Landmarks
The Matrix sits in the Al Hebiah Fourth district of Sports City, DubaiLand, close to the Els Golf Club and Dubai International Stadium. For a wider view of how Airbnb management works across Dubai's different neighbourhoods, see Royale Stays' full guide to Airbnb property management in Dubai, or its dedicated Airbnb management in Dubai Sports City page.
The Els Golf Club is less than a kilometre away, and Dubai International Stadium, an 8-minute drive, hosts international cricket series including the IPL and PSL. A single pharmacy operates inside The Matrix itself, and a cluster of Canal Residence buildings immediately next door hosts several everyday supermarkets, restaurants, salons and services within a five-minute walk.
Royale Stays has separately covered several of The Matrix's closest neighbouring buildings: Canal Residence West Venetian Building and Canal Residence West European Building, both within roughly 0.1 to 0.2 km per Propsearch's own location data, and Red Residence, named directly among The Matrix's nearest neighbouring buildings by Bayut's own guide.
Nearby landmark distances and the Canal Residence proximity data (via the location of specific shops and outlets) are sourced from Propsearch.ae. Bayut.com's building guide independently names Oasis Tower 1, Eden Garden, Champions Tower 4 and Red Residence as The Matrix's nearest neighbouring buildings, all within a seven minute walk; of these four, only Red Residence has its own Royale Stays guide.
Unit Types at The Matrix
The Matrix offers studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Studio units range from around 581 to 900 sq ft, and one-bedroom apartments from about 793 to 1,300 sq ft. Dubai Land Department transaction records confirm sizes within these ranges: studios at 595 to 731 sq ft, and one-bedroom units at 923 to 1,131 sq ft.
Studio and one-bedroom size ranges are drawn from Bayut.com's building guide; Dubai Land Department transaction sizes via Propsearch.ae fall within those ranges. Neither source publishes a specific size range for two-bedroom units at The Matrix, and no two-bedroom Dubai Land Department transaction record was visible in the accessible portion of Propsearch.ae's transaction table, which rendered 10 of the "50 sale transaction records available" for this building. Disclosed here as a genuine data gap rather than estimated.
Amenities at The Matrix
The Matrix's shared amenities include a rooftop swimming pool with sun deck, sauna and jacuzzi, a health club and state-of-the-art gymnasium, a kids' play area, cafeteria and landscaped garden, plus 24 hour reception, security and concierge services with high-tech smart card access. District cooling is supplied by Emicool, with DEWA providing water and electricity.
As with most Dubai apartment buildings, owners should budget for yearly district cooling and chiller charges, which are billed separately to residents.
Core amenities (rooftop pool, health club and gymnasium, smart card security access, concierge) are confirmed by both Propsearch.ae and Bayut.com. Bayut.com additionally lists sauna, jacuzzi, a kids' play area, cafeteria and landscaped garden, and names Emicool and DEWA as the utility providers, details not independently corroborated by Propsearch.ae.
Transportation & Access
The Matrix has no metro station of its own; the nearest stations, Mall of the Emirates, Equiti, DMCC and Sobha Realty, are all roughly a 15 minute drive away, while several bus stops sit under a 4 minute drive from the building. From The Matrix it takes roughly 22 minutes to drive to Dubai Mall, 16 minutes to Palm Jumeirah, 20 minutes to Burj Al Arab and 20 minutes to The Walk at JBR. Dubai International Airport (DXB) is around 28 minutes away by car, and Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) is roughly 29 minutes away.
Bus and metro station data is sourced from Bayut.com. Drive times to landmarks and airports are sourced from Propsearch.ae, calculated via Google Maps under typical traffic conditions; actual times will vary.
The Matrix Price Trends
Dubai Land Department genuine sale transactions recorded through 2026 show studio units at The Matrix selling between AED 550,000 and AED 640,000 (595 to 731 sq ft), and one-bedroom units at AED 700,000 (923 to 940 sq ft). The most recent recorded sale, in August 2026, closed at AED 601,085 for a 731 sq ft studio.
Figures above include only genuine Sale-type Dubai Land Department transactions and exclude Mortgage Registration records, which reflect financing amounts rather than open-market sale prices. Three Mortgage Registration records were visible in the same transaction sample (AED 511,146 on a 1,131 sq ft 1-bed, AED 512,000 on a 607 sq ft studio, and AED 440,000 on a 595 sq ft studio) and are not quoted here. A reference price of around AED 601,085 was checked against the live Dubai Land Department transaction feed and traces exactly to a genuine 20 August 2026 Sale-type transaction on the 731 sq ft studio unit above, not a financing record, so it is used as-is. No genuine Sale-type two-bedroom transaction was visible in the accessible portion of the transaction table, disclosed as a data gap rather than estimated. Owners weighing a purchase here can model likely returns with Royale Stays' Dubai property ROI calculator.
Airbnb & Short-Term Rental Income Potential
The Matrix is a completed, standard freehold residential building. Dubai Land Department records classify units here as Residential, Flat, not a hotel branded or serviced apartment property, so the usual owner direct DTCM holiday home permit route applies to any unit here. The building's developer is not a restricted hotel brand, so Royale Stays has no confirmed prohibition or restriction on short-term letting at this building.
The Matrix sits outside Royale Stays' current core management areas of Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, JBR and Business Bay, so no property specific earnings figure is quoted here. The building's proximity to the Els Golf Club and Dubai International Stadium, along with its pool, gym and family-friendly amenities, are the kind of practical draws that can appeal to guests visiting Sports City for golf or sporting events. Royale Stays' Airbnb management services, furnishing, photography, dynamic pricing, guest communications, check-in and maintenance coordination, are available from a management fee starting at 15%. Owners can submit their property for a free assessment.
Royale Stays has no current partnership, affiliation, or commercial relationship with the developer of The Matrix. This page is an independent building guide for owners and investors researching the project.
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