On 18 August 2026, Lucretia announced on Instagram that its CEO Sofiane Ould had bought a top-floor apartment in Peninsula Three, Select Group's tower in Business Bay, to live in himself.
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In a post dated 18 August 2026 on our Instagram account @lucretia_immobilier, we shared a somewhat unusual deal: this time, our CEO Sofiane Ould didn't sell the apartment — he bought it, to live in himself. The property is a two-bedroom unit on the 49th and top floor of Peninsula Three, the tower designed by Select Group in Business Bay, overlooking the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Canal. After eighteen years in real estate, eight of them in Dubai, Sofiane kept this unit for himself. It's a good moment to explain, calmly, what a choice like this signals to an investor.
@lucretia_immobilier · 18 August 2026
This time, Sofiane, Lucretia's CEO, didn't sell the apartment… he chose to buy it. To live in. 18 years in real estate, 8 of them in Dubai, and this gem — he kept it for himself. Top floor, stunning views of the Burj and the canal. At Lucretia, we only recommend properties we'd sign for ourselves. This time, he did exactly that. Proud to have closed this deal with Select Group, our long-standing partner. So when do we find you yours? 📩 #Lucretia #DubaiRealEstate #PeninsulaThree #InvestInDubai #Sofiane
Key takeaways
- On 18 August 2026, Lucretia announced on its Instagram account @lucretia_immobilier that its CEO Sofiane Ould had purchased an apartment.
- The property is a two-bedroom apartment on the 49th floor — the top level — of the Peninsula Three tower in Business Bay, Dubai.
- Peninsula Three is a 49-storey residential skyscraper developed by Select Group, launched in the first quarter of 2022 in the Business Bay district.
- The apartment was acquired by Sofiane Ould to live in himself, not to resell or rent out.
- The deal was closed with Select Group, a long-standing developer partner of Lucretia.
Peninsula Three: a Select Group tower in the heart of Business Bay
Peninsula Three is a 49-storey residential tower built in Business Bay, on the Dubai Canal peninsula. The project is part of the Peninsula mega-development led by Select Group, one of the city's most established private developers. The unit Sofiane acquired sits on the top floor, giving it the most sought-after outlooks in any tower: a direct view of the Burj Khalifa on one side, the water on the other.
The location is far from incidental. Business Bay extends Downtown along the canal and is one of the most liquid districts in Dubai's rental market, favoured by executives and expats for its immediate proximity to the business centre. To dig deeper into the mechanics of buying off-plan as well as on the secondary market, we walk through the steps in our guide Buying off-plan in Dubai.
"We only recommend properties we'd sign for ourselves"
The core message of the post fits in a single sentence: at Lucretia, we only recommend properties we'd be ready to buy ourselves. Sofiane's purchase is a literal illustration of that. This isn't a classic investment deal, driven by a yield target or resale gains: it's a home purchase, made by a professional who knows the tower, the developer and the neighbourhood from the inside.
For a reader, the useful lesson isn't "buy the same property" but "apply the same filter." A well-oriented top floor, a solid developer, a liquid district: these are the criteria that make a property hold up over time, whether you live in it or rent it out. It's also what shapes our work on the Dubai investment market.
What it means for the investor
Here's what we take away from this deal for an investor: choosing a top floor in a Select Group tower in Business Bay brings together several criteria we consider decisive. The scarcity of the floor and the view supports both resale value and rental appeal, in a district where demand for premium homes stays strong all year round.
On the tax side, Dubai's framework remains a major advantage: in Dubai, individuals pay no tax on rental income or on property capital gains. A property like this one, if held to invest rather than to live in, would therefore generate rents free of local tax — though we can't promise any specific yield, which depends on the entry price, the unit and the market at the time of letting.
That leaves the question of choosing between living and investing, and between new-build and secondary. Depending on your project, an apartment, a villa or a townhouse serve different objectives: we explain this in our guide on which property type to favour. And for an already-delivered property like this one, the process differs from off-plan: our guide on buying on the secondary market lays out the milestones. The right question isn't "where will prices rise the most?" but "which property matches my use and my time horizon?" — and that's exactly where our guidance comes into its own.
Source: Original post on Instagram (@lucretia_immobilier) — 18 August 2026
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About the author
Sofiane OULD
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
A visionary entrepreneur and recognized expert in Dubai's prestige real estate market, Sofiane began his career in Paris before joining major players in online real estate (SeLoger, MeilleursAgents, Airbnb). Based in Dubai since 2019, he quickly established himself as one of the city's top-performing brokers. Founder of Lucretia Immobilier, he now supports his clients with an approach combining integrity, innovation and excellence, thereby redefining the standards of luxury.
