MAG 318 Business Bay Dubai

MAG 318 is a finished, fully furnished tower in Business Bay by MAG Property Development, the property arm of the Moafaq Ahmad Al Gaddah group. It holds about 439 apartments — studios, one- and two-bedrooms — from roughly 436 sq ft to 1,000 sq ft, most of them looking onto the Dubai Water Canal.

It was completed in December 2020 and commissioned in January 2021, so what is on sale is resale stock rather than an off-plan launch. Prices start at about AED 1,100,000, roughly Rs 2.83 crore, with the average studio nearer AED 1,130,000. That is about AED 2,472 per sq ft on a 445 sq ft studio — a high rate for Business Bay, and the furnishing is most of the reason why. The source listing carries no price. See the rest of our Dubai section, our projects list, the same developer's MAG 330, or another finished Business Bay building, Bayz by Danube.

At a glance

Price and unit pricing

Read the rate honestly. At about AED 2,472 per sq ft this building sits above two of the three community averages we found, and well above the roughly AED 1,757 per sq ft that a finished, unfurnished Business Bay tower a short distance away asks. The premium buys three things: furniture, a canal-front position and a building that is only a few years old.

Whether that is worth AED 700 per sq ft depends on what you do with it. For a short-let or corporate-let operator, a furnished apartment earns the week you complete and commands a higher rent than a bare one. For a buy-and-hold landlord on annual Ejari contracts, furniture depreciates and is replaced at your cost — and you paid a capital premium for it once.

The gap in the record is prices by layout: no source we checked publishes a sale figure for a one- or two-bedroom here, only for studios, on a range that runs to 1,000 sq ft. Ask for DLD comparables on the exact layout before offering.

What it really costs

There is no developer payment plan — the building was finished in 2020. You pay cash or take a mortgage, and the transaction costs are the same either way. Worked on the AED 1,100,000 studio:

On income, rents in this building run AED 53,000 to 160,000 a year across all layouts, up about 2% over twelve months on DLD data. A studio bought at AED 1,100,000 and let at the bottom of that band returns about 4.8% gross, and about 6.4% at AED 70,000 — our arithmetic on the published band, not a figure any source prints for this building. Net lands 1.5 to 2 points below gross after service charge, Ejari and re-letting, with furniture replacement on top. Ask for the Mollak budget and the signed Ejari on the unit.

Location and connectivity

Business Bay is the office and canal district immediately south of Downtown. Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall are minutes away, DIFC a short drive north, and Business Bay station on the Red Line serves the district — a real advantage over Dubai's cheaper apartment areas, which mostly have no metro.

This building's specific asset is its canal frontage, with the Water Canal walkway alongside — one of the few pleasant places to be outdoors in the district. What comes with it is Business Bay traffic on Al Khail and Sheikh Zayed Road at peak, and a rental market absorbing new towers every year.

Amenities and specifications

The apartments are handed over fully furnished, with balconies and floor-to-ceiling windows over the canal. Building amenities on record are a swimming pool, a gymnasium, planted outdoor leisure areas, a children's area, a community centre and a coffee shop.

Studios run 445 to 456 sq ft, the overall range about 436 sq ft to 1,000 sq ft. Because the building is finished, the questions that matter off-plan matter less here: go and see it. Check the condition of the furniture you are paying a premium for, ask what has been replaced, read two years of service-charge invoices, and get the parking allocation for that unit in writing — no source we checked publishes parking by unit type.

About the developer

MAG Property Development is the real-estate arm of MAG Group, the Moafaq Ahmad Al Gaddah group, which has operated in the UAE property market since 2003 as part of a business roughly forty years old. Counts of what it has delivered vary by source: 19 completed projects and more than 2,500 residential units on some records, more than 5,000 units on others.

Two of its buildings are worth naming because you can go and look at them. Emirates Financial Towers in DIFC, a 27-storey twin-tower completed in 2011, holds a Guinness record for its automated parking. MAG 218 Tower in Dubai Marina, completed in 2010, is a 66-floor, 534-unit residential building. Fifteen years of standing, occupied Dubai buildings is a different proposition from a first-time entrant, and MAG 318 itself has been lived in for over five years.

For Indian buyers

Business Bay is freehold, so an Indian citizen can own here outright with a Dubai Land Department title deed. There is no annual property tax; the recurring cost is the service charge, roughly AED 5,300 to 11,100 a year on a 445 sq ft studio at the community band, plus furniture replacement if you let it furnished.

At about USD 300,000 the entry studio sits above one person's Liberalised Remittance Scheme allowance of USD 250,000 per financial year. A couple remitting USD 500,000 covers it comfortably; a single buyer would need two financial years, which is awkward on a resale that completes in weeks. Plan the funding before you sign the MoU. TCS applies above the current threshold.

On residency, the studio does not reach the AED 2 M Golden Visa threshold. A 1,000 sq ft two-bedroom might: at the entry rate of about AED 2,472 per sq ft it would come to roughly AED 2.47 M. That is our arithmetic on the studio rate rather than a printed price, and no source we checked publishes a two-bedroom figure for this building, so get a written quote before you count on the visa. On tax at home, rent from Dubai is taxable in India for a resident at slab rates as income from house property with the standard 30% deduction, and the asset goes into Schedule FA of your return. The UAE takes nothing, so there is no foreign tax credit to set against it.

Pros

• Finished and occupied since December 2020 — you can inspect the apartment, the furniture and the service-charge history before paying
• Fully furnished, which suits short-let and corporate-let operators who want to earn from week one
• Canal-front position with balconies and floor-to-ceiling windows over the Dubai Water Canal
• Business Bay station on the Red Line serves the district
• Rents in the building run AED 53,000 to 160,000 a year, and DLD data shows them up about 2% over twelve months
• MAG has fifteen years of delivered Dubai buildings behind it, including MAG 218 in Dubai Marina and Emirates Financial Towers in DIFC

Cons

• At about AED 2,472 per sq ft the rate is well above the unfurnished finished stock nearby, which asks nearer AED 1,757
• You pay a capital premium for furniture that then depreciates at your cost
• No source we checked publishes a sale price for a one- or two-bedroom, only for studios
• No developer payment plan — a resale is cash or mortgage
• The entry price is about USD 300,000, above one person's annual LRS allowance
• Sources disagree on the tower height, 23 storeys or 25, and no DLD project number is published
• The approved service-charge budget is not published; the community band spans AED 12 to 25 per sq ft

Who this is for

• Short-let and corporate-let operators who want a furnished, canal-facing unit earning immediately
• Buyers who want income from month one rather than a handover date years out
• Couples who can fund the purchase across two LRS allowances

Who should look elsewhere

• Buy-and-hold landlords on annual contracts, who pay for furniture once and replace it thereafter
• Value buyers — unfurnished finished Business Bay stock trades hundreds of dirhams per sq ft lower
• Buyers who need an instalment plan, or a written two-bedroom price before committing

Our verdict

MAG 318 is a good building doing a specific job. Furnished, canal-facing, five years old, in a district with its own metro station, it is built for the short-let and corporate-let end of Business Bay rather than for an annual-contract landlord. If that is your business, the premium over unfurnished stock is a working cost.

If it is not, look hard at the rate. About AED 2,472 per sq ft against roughly AED 1,757 for a finished, unfurnished tower nearby is a large gap to justify with furniture, and furniture is the part of the price that falls in value from the day you buy. At the AED 750,000 end of the studio band the rate falls to about AED 1,685 and that gap closes entirely, which is why the floor matters more here than the quoted start. The other thing to fix before you offer is the information gap: no source publishes a sale price for anything larger than a studio here, so get DLD comparables for your layout, the building's Mollak service-charge budget and the signed Ejari on the unit. All three are obtainable, and none of them should be guessed.

FAQs

What does an apartment at MAG 318 cost?

Prices start at about AED 1,100,000, roughly Rs 2.83 crore, with the average studio selling nearer AED 1,130,000. On a 445 sq ft studio that works out at about AED 2,472 per sq ft. The portals do not agree on the floor: alongside that AED 1,100,000 start, one lists studios in this building from about AED 750,000 and a 445 sq ft studio at AED 850,000. Treat AED 750,000 to AED 1,130,000 as the studio band and price the unit in front of you rather than the headline. No source we checked publishes a sale price for the one- and two-bedroom layouts, which run up to about 1,000 sq ft, so ask for DLD comparables on the exact unit.

Is it ready, and is there a payment plan?

It is ready. The building was completed in December 2020 and commissioned in January 2021, so every unit on the market is resale stock and there is no developer instalment plan. You pay cash or take a mortgage. Budget the 4% DLD transfer fee, AED 44,000 on AED 1,100,000, about AED 4,200 in trustee registration and typically 2% agency, bringing the total to own to roughly AED 1,170,000 or Rs 3.01 crore.

Are the apartments furnished?

Yes. MAG 318 is handed over fully furnished, with balconies and floor-to-ceiling windows, and most units look onto the Dubai Water Canal. That is the main reason the rate per sq ft sits above unfurnished Business Bay stock. Inspect the actual furniture before you pay a premium for it and ask what has been replaced since 2021.

What rent does it achieve?

Apartments in the building are listed for rent between AED 53,000 and AED 160,000 a year across all layouts, and the average two-bedroom rent is about AED 153,360. DLD transactional data shows rents here up roughly 2% over the last twelve months. A studio bought at AED 1,100,000 and let at AED 53,000 returns about 4.8% gross, and about 6.4% at AED 70,000 - that is our arithmetic on the published band, not a figure any source prints for this building.

What are the service charges?

The building's approved budget is not published by the sources we checked. The Business Bay band runs about AED 12 to 25 per sq ft a year and averages AED 14.75, so roughly AED 5,300 to 11,100 on a 445 sq ft studio. Dubai service charges are approved annually by the Dubai Land Department through the Mollak system - ask for this building's Mollak statement before you sign.

Can an Indian citizen buy here, and does it give a Golden Visa?

Business Bay is freehold, so any nationality can own outright with a DLD title deed. At about USD 300,000 the entry studio is above one person's USD 250,000 LRS allowance for the year, so plan on two remitters or two financial years - and settle that before signing the MoU, because a resale completes in weeks. On the visa, the studio does not reach AED 2 M; a 1,000 sq ft two-bedroom would come to roughly AED 2.47 M at the studio rate, but that is our arithmetic rather than a published price.

How large are the apartments?

From about 436 sq ft to 1,000 sq ft, with studios at 445 to 456 sq ft. The building holds about 439 apartments in studio, one- and two-bedroom layouts across 23 or 25 floors, depending on which record you read.

What has MAG delivered before?

MAG Property Development is part of MAG Group, in the UAE property market since 2003 within a group roughly forty years old. Delivery counts vary by source - 19 completed projects and more than 2,500 residential units on some records, more than 5,000 on others. Two you can go and look at are Emirates Financial Towers in DIFC, a 27-storey twin-tower completed in 2011 that holds a Guinness record for its automated parking, and MAG 218 Tower in Dubai Marina, a 66-floor, 534-unit building completed in 2010.

For current availability at MAG 318, DLD comparables for the layout you want and the building's Mollak service-charge statement, talk to Realty Hunting and we will pull them for you.