The iconic Toyota Building on Sheikh Zayed Road is scheduled for demolition in 2027, with tenants gradually moving out of the 15-storey landmark.
The end may be near for Dubai’s Toyota Building, but the fate of the famous sign that gave the landmark its popular name could be very different. Al Futtaim Toyota plans to preserve the legacy of the iconic Toyota sign even after the Nasser Rashid Lootah Building on Sheikh Zayed Road is demolished, can reveal.
The announcement comes as tenants continue to move out of the 15-storey building, which is scheduled for demolition in 2027. While the building’s management previously said there was no fixed timeline for the demolition, current tenants with valid rental contracts can remain until December 2026.
The fate of the sign itself has yet to be revealed, with Al Futtaim Toyota saying plans for its future are still being finalised.
The building, constructed in 1974, is officially known as the Nasser Rashid Lootah Building. But for generations of Dubai residents, its formal name was overshadowed by the giant Toyota sign that once crowned its roof, turning the 15-storey landmark into one of the city’s most recognisable sights.
Brent said the news of the Nasser Rashid Lootah Building’s impending demolition had brought mixed emotions, with Al Futtaim Toyota looking ahead to the site’s future while acknowledging the landmark’s place in Dubai’s history.
He confirmed that the iconic Toyota sign will live on, with plans to carry its legacy forward to be revealed in the coming months.
Brent also hinted at a final surprise before the building disappears from Dubai’s skyline, urging residents to keep an eye on the landmark in the meantime. Whatever is planned, he said, “You’ll all know it when you see it.”
Al Futtaim Toyota has not yet revealed whether the iconic sign will be relocated, reinstalled at another site or preserved as a piece of Dubai’s heritage. The company said plans for the sign are still being finalised.
How a billboard became a Dubai landmark
The red-and-white Toyota sign was first installed in 1981, when Sheikh Zayed Road looked very different from the skyscraper-lined highway it is today.
At the time, the building was one of only a handful of high-rises in an area then known for Defence Roundabout. As Dubai expanded around it, the Toyota sign became such a familiar point of reference that the building itself gradually became known simply as the Toyota Building.
The nickname endured even though the building never housed a Toyota showroom or service centre.
“Since the Toyota sign first went up on the Nasser Rashid Lootah Building in 1981, it has been a landmark for Dubai residents and visitors alike,” Brent said, describing it as part of the city’s visual heritage and a lasting symbol of Toyota’s association with the UAE.
The sign remained in place for nearly four decades before being removed in 2018, following the expiry of its advertising contract.
Its removal, however, did little to diminish the building’s identity as the Toyota Building. When Al Futtaim Toyota reinstated the billboard in 2022, the company said the move came in response to popular demand.
“We were delighted to bring back the iconic billboard in 2022,” Brent said, adding that the restoration was a tribute to the nostalgia and fond memories Dubai residents associate with the sign.
At the time, residents welcomed the return of the familiar sign as a piece of old Dubai coming back to the skyline. The building continued to stand as towers rose around it along Sheikh Zayed Road, making it one of the few remaining visual links to an earlier chapter of the city’s development.
‘Before GPS and Google Maps’
Al Futtaim Toyota said conversations with long-time Dubai residents have highlighted another role the building once played: helping people navigate the city.
“More recently, we spoke to some of Dubai’s long-term residents, and discovered that the older landmarks like the Toyota Building are a connection to their own past,” Brent said. He added that, surrounded by modern icons such as the Burj Khalifa, Emirates Towers and Museum of the Future, the Toyota Building had remained a familiar presence for generations of Dubai residents.
Before digital maps and location pins became commonplace, landmarks such as the Toyota Building and World Trade Centre effectively served as navigation points.
“In the days before GPS and Google Maps, it was landmarks such as the World Trade Centre and the Toyota Building that people would use as navigation tools to find their way around, or to give directions to others,” Brent said.
That sense of nostalgia is something Al Futtaim Toyota hopes to preserve even as the building prepares to disappear from Dubai’s skyline.
“At Al Futtaim Toyota we are proud to have been such a visible feature of Dubai’s iconic skyline for almost half a century, and we’re grateful to the Nasser Rashid Lootah Group for allowing us the opportunity to do so.”
