Lottoland founder bets on Dubai’s ultra-luxury property market

Supplied/25 Degrees

• David von Rosen in $136m gamble
• Super-prime properties ‘in short supply’
• $10m-plus home sales double in 2023

The founder of a global lottery gambling platform has bet $136 million on the launch of his latest venture, an ultra-luxury property development company initially focused on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah.

David von Rosen, who set up Lottoland in 2013, said he has now invested heavily in 25 Degrees, named after Dubai’s latitude, alongside a Dubai-based family office.

Von Rosen said the business will cater to the growing influx of ultra-high-net-worth individuals to Dubai from Europe and the United States who want super-prime homes built to high European standards, style, and specifications which are , he said, “currently in short supply”.

• A moment of calm after two hectic years for UAE real estate

• Could Dubai property meet its nemesis in 2024?
• Dubai real estate ‘hot’ but no bubble fears, say experts

25 Degrees will also renovate existing properties and develop new-builds for sale, von Rosen said. 

Sales of $10 million-plus properties almost doubled to 431, eight a week, during 2023, according to Knight Frank. In the first nine months of 2023 Dubai sold more than twice as many $10 million-plus home as New York, its nearest competitor in the ultra-luxury property market.

A report by Henley & Partners last year said that 4,500 millionaires moved to the UAE in 2023, an average of 12 a day. This makes it the second most desirable country for the wealthy, behind only Australia.

Von Rosen has formed a partnership with Sotheby’s International Realty to market its first project, a 5,800 square foot $17 million private beach villa on Palm Jumeirah. 

Palm Jumeirah is the initial focus for 25 Degrees, but von Rosen said he wanted to attract wealthy investors looking for an ultra-luxury property to upmarket parts of Dubai, to hit a target of selling 100 homes by 2030.

“These elites are looking for spacious homes built to the highest specifications of European design. There’s a historic lack of this type of property in Dubai, and that’s the gap in the market 25 Degrees is filling,” von Rosen said.