The Residences 1, Downtown Dubai
The Residences 1 is a 26-storey Emaar Properties tower in Downtown Dubai, one of the numbered buildings in the nine-slot Residences complex on Old Town Island, facing Burj Khalifa, Burj Lake and Burj Park, completed in 2007 with one, two and three-bedroom apartments. Downtown Dubai is one of Royale Stays' core managed areas, and Royale Stays handles the setup, pricing and guest side of listing a unit for a fee from 15%.
Floors
26
Developer
Emaar Properties
Completed
2007
Units
1,085 (masterplan total, see note)
Area
Downtown Dubai (Old Town Island)
About The Residences 1
The Residences 1 is a 26-storey residential tower developed by Emaar Properties, one of the numbered towers that together make up The Residences on Old Town Island in Downtown Dubai. The wider masterplan sits on a curving landscaped podium facing Burj Khalifa, Burj Lake and Burj Park, with construction beginning in 2004 and most of the complex's buildings completed between 2006 and 2007; Residences 1 itself completed in 2007, placing it among the earliest-delivered addresses in Downtown Dubai rather than the newer Opera District towers nearby.
Independent sources differ slightly on the tower's own height: two sources put Residences 1 at 26 storeys, while a third lists 42 storeys, a figure that would exceed the masterplan's own stated range of 24 to 41 storeys across its nine towers. Given the two-source agreement and that internal inconsistency in the outlying figure, this guide treats 26 storeys as the tower's floor count.
Property portals do not report a unit count specific to Residences 1 on its own. Emaar's masterplan-level figures put the entire nine-building complex, eight residential towers plus the Ramada Downtown Dubai hotel occupying one of the nine slots, at 1,056 apartments plus 29 town houses, a combined 1,085 units, so treating that total as a single-tower figure would overstate Residences 1 itself.
Location & Nearby Landmarks
Residences 1 sits on Old Town Island, within about a five-minute drive of Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa, part of the same self-contained Residences community as the Ramada Downtown Dubai hotel and Al Saaha Offices, with four levels of shared parking and round-the-clock concierge and security across the nine buildings. For a wider view of the area's short-term rental market, Royale Stays' Airbnb management guide for Downtown Dubai covers licensing and demand across the wider district.
Other Downtown Dubai towers covered separately on royalestays.com include Residences 1's own same-complex sibling The Residences 8, along with Miska 4 and Zanzebeel 4, each with its own location, layout and unit mix within the wider district.
Unit Types
Residences 1 offers one, two and three-bedroom apartments, with spacious layouts, floor-to-ceiling windows and modern finishes. Two and three-bedroom units come with multiple en-suite bathrooms and a guest bathroom, and higher floors typically carry direct Burj Khalifa or Downtown skyline views, a common driver of premium pricing on this stretch of Old Town Island.
Amenities
Residents have access to a swimming pool, a fully equipped gym, steam room, sauna and jacuzzi, squash courts, and a dedicated kids' play area, alongside the wider masterplan's shared facilities: badminton court, mini theatre, library, day-care centre, business centre and meeting rooms, four levels of parking, a concierge facility and round-the-clock maintenance and security.
Transportation & Access
Old Town Island sits within comfortable walking distance of the Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall Metro station, with Sheikh Zayed Road close by for anyone driving, the same access point most Downtown Dubai addresses rely on. Dubai International Airport is roughly 20 to 25 minutes away by car outside of peak traffic.
Rental & Price Trends
No independently verified rental yield figures specific to Residences 1 were available when this guide was researched. Property portals show real sale transaction records for the building (unit sizes, prices per square foot), but a sale price is not a rental yield, and inventing one from a snapshot would help nobody. Owners weighing a specific unit's numbers can run their own scenario through Royale Stays' ROI calculator, which works from the figures you actually have rather than a portal average.
Airbnb / Short-Term Rental Income Potential
No short-term listing specific to Residences 1 itself was confirmed at the time of writing, so this guide does not claim one. What is confirmed is that two other numbered towers in the exact same Residences complex, Residences 7 and Residences 8, both have live, tower-specific short-term listings across multiple platforms today, all under the same 'The Residence Tower N' naming pattern this building shares. Residences 1 is developed by Emaar rather than Vida, the only confirmed prohibited brand for short-term letting, so there is no policy reason its apartments can't be run as licensed holiday homes.
Royale Stays does not have earnings data specific to Residences 1 itself, but Downtown Dubai apartments broadly earn well on Airbnb depending on size and management quality, per Royale Stays' own Downtown Dubai Airbnb income data: one-bedroom units typically rent for AED 500 to 750 a night (roughly AED 130,000 to 175,000 a year at 78 to 85% occupancy), two-bedroom units for AED 850 to 1,300 a night (roughly AED 190,000 to 280,000 a year), and three-bedroom units for AED 1,400 to 2,200 a night (roughly AED 300,000 to 430,000 a year), matching Residences 1's own one, two and three-bedroom unit mix.
Royale Stays manages the full short-term rental process end to end, from furnishing and photography to pricing, check-in, guest communications and maintenance, for a fee from 15%. Owners considering Residences 1 for short-term rental can review Royale Stays' full operational approach in its guide to Airbnb property management in Dubai. Owners ready to move forward can submit their property for a free earnings estimate.
Income context reviewed by Chris Veinbaums, DTCM-licensed operator.
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