The Community Sports Arena
From AED 850,000 (portal-listed)
Developers / Aqua Properties
Developer profile · Dubai
Aqua Properties: twenty years of selling Dubai property, and two towers it is now building itself
A Dubai group founded in 2005 as a brokerage, now developing through its AQUA Developments arm in Arjan and Dubai Sports City — a 1,200-unit complex above a mall and a 396-unit tower built around co-working. What the record shows, and what it does not.
BasedUmm Al Sheif, Sheikh Zayed Road
Founded2005
TypeBrokerage with a development arm
LicenceORN 303
Live projectsThe Central Downtown · The Community Sports Arena
On this site2 projects, from AED 599,888 (portal-listed)
About Aqua Properties
Aqua Properties is a Dubai group that has been in business since 2005, when it started as a brokerage. Today it runs both sides: a sales and leasing business with a RERA-certified team, and a development arm trading as AQUA Developments that builds its own towers. Its head office is on the first floor of IST Plaza in Umm Al Sheif on Sheikh Zayed Road, it holds brokerage licence ORN 303, and its founder and chairman is Ali Ashraf Tumbi. The group also markets a blockchain-based property fund, which it describes as the first of its kind — a claim worth reading as marketing rather than as a product description.
Its development identity is the “The Community” series: The Community JVT, a hotel-apartment concept in Jumeirah Village Triangle; The Community Motor City; and The Community Sports Arena in Dubai Sports City. Alongside those sit The Central Downtown, four towers and 1,200 apartments above a mall in Arjan, plus O Ten in Dubai Healthcare City, the J5 and J8 plots and a Tumbi hotel conversion on the Palm. The two projects carried by the listing portal are the Arjan complex and the Sports City tower.
What the two live projects actually are. The Central Downtown is a seven-acre, four-tower podium development in Arjan with studios to three-bedroom homes and a stated 200,000 sq ft of amenities; the portal prices a studio at AED 599,888 and a three-bed at AED 2.2 million. The Community Sports Arena is a single 22-floor tower in Dubai Sports City with 396 apartments, co-working floors and home-office layouts, valued by the developer at AED 477 million, with a portal-listed studio at AED 850,000. One is a dense, amenity-led complex; the other is a services-led building aimed at professionals. They are not variations on a theme.
The honest read on the record. Aqua Properties has been selling Dubai property for two decades, which shows in how its projects are packaged and priced. What it does not yet have is a delivery record in this cycle: both portal projects are under construction, neither has been handed over, and the earlier “The Community” schemes are conversions and mid-market buildings rather than a body of completed work you can walk into. That is not a criticism of the buildings — it is a statement about what you can and cannot verify today. On an off-plan purchase from a newer developer, the documents carry more weight than the renders.
Where the disclosure thins out. Three different entry prices for the Sports Arena appear across the group’s own channels — AED 603,888 on the brokerage project list, AED 850,000 on the portal for a 574 sq ft studio, and from AED 1.25 million on the project microsite for one to three-bedroom homes. All three are probably true of different unit types, and none of them is a price list. No payment plan is published in text for either project. The Central Downtown’s public construction diary stops in September 2024. None of this is unusual in Dubai’s off-plan market, and all of it is a reason to ask for dated documents rather than headline numbers.
What that means for a buyer. Treat the developer as a sales organisation with a building arm and diligence accordingly: escrow and DLD registration, the contractor’s name, the completion date in the sale and purchase agreement, the service-charge estimate, and the permit number. The Sports Arena publishes its permit — 0817984304 — on its own project page, which is a good sign of the kind of disclosure to ask for on the other project too.
Aqua Properties projects on this site
Two projects, both under construction and both on the listing portal. One sells on density and amenities; the other on services and a co-working building.
The Central Downtown
From AED 599,888 (portal-listed)
For the districts, see the Arjan guide and the Dubai Sports City guide. The prices marked portal-listed are the figures the portal quotes per unit; the group’s own channels quote different “starting” numbers, and the project pages say where they diverge.
What distinguishes Aqua Properties
A broker that became a developer
Two decades of selling other people’s buildings taught this company how to package its own: unit mixes aimed at investors, entry prices set just under a psychological round number, and amenity lists that read like a sales deck. That is professional. It is also not the same skill as delivering a tower, and the delivery record here is still being written.
Two projects, two different bets
The Central Downtown is a 1,200-unit podium complex above a mall in Arjan – a rental machine priced from AED 599,888. The Community Sports Arena is a 396-unit services tower in Sports City with co-working floors and home offices. If one of them suits you, the other probably does not; do not let a single developer relationship blur the choice.
Pricing is per unit, not per brochure
The portal prices four unit types at Central Downtown and one at Sports Arena, which is more than most listings give you. But the group’s own sites name three different ‘starting’ figures for the Sports Arena alone. Ask for a dated price list by unit number and floor, and treat every ‘from’ figure as a marketing device.
Amenity depth is the product
Both projects sell on facilities rather than location: 200,000 sq ft of podium amenities in Arjan, and a rooftop pool, spa, two gyms and co-working floors in Sports City. That is a genuine differentiator in their price bands, and it is paid for annually. The service charge, not the brochure, is where these buildings will be judged.
Construction reporting has gaps
The Central Downtown’s public construction updates stop in September 2024 while the portal quotes a December 2026 handover. The Sports Arena publishes a permit number and a project value. The difference between those two levels of disclosure is the standard to hold both to.
Awards are a company claim
The group describes The Central Downtown as award-winning. Plausible, and unverified here. Ask which award, in which year, from which body – and weight it for what it is, which is marketing rather than evidence of build quality.
Buying an Aqua Properties home: what to check
With a developer that is still building its first towers, the documents are the diligence. These are the items worth having in hand before you reserve.
The escrow account number and the project’s registration on the DLD system.
The permit number matched to the DLD record – 0817984304 is published for the Sports Arena.
The contractual completion date and delay clause in the sale and purchase agreement.
The main contractor’s name and the latest dated site report.
The payment plan schedule in writing, including any post-handover element.
The estimated service charge per square foot and what it covers.
Whether each apartment carries an individual title deed.
The building’s rules on short lets and multiple occupancy, especially in a co-living building.
At Central Downtown: which tower and phase your unit sits in, and who operates the mall below.
Resale terms before handover – developer NOC, transfer fee and any resale restriction.
Aqua Properties frequently asked questions
Who is Aqua Properties?
A Dubai property group founded in 2005 that began as a brokerage and now develops through its AQUA Developments arm. Head office is on Sheikh Zayed Road in Umm Al Sheif; the founder and chairman is Ali Ashraf Tumbi; the brokerage licence is ORN 303.
What has Aqua Properties built?
Its development identity is the ‘The Community’ series – JVT, Motor City and the Sports Arena in Dubai Sports City – alongside The Central Downtown in Arjan, O Ten in Dubai Healthcare City, the J5 and J8 plots and a Tumbi hotel conversion. Both projects currently on the listing portal are still under construction.
How many projects does Aqua Properties have on this site?
Two: The Community Sports Arena in Dubai Sports City, portal-listed from AED 850,000, and The Central Downtown in Arjan, portal-listed from AED 599,888.
Does Aqua Properties have a delivery record?
Not yet in this cycle. The earlier projects are conversions and mid-market buildings rather than completed towers you can inspect, and both portal projects are under construction. Weight the documents – escrow, permit, contractor, contract date – more heavily than you would with a developer that has handed over a comparable building.
Why do Aqua Properties’ own sites show different prices?
The Sports Arena is advertised from AED 603,888 on the group’s brokerage project list, priced at AED 850,000 for a 574 sq ft studio on the portal, and marketed from AED 1.25 million for one to three-bedroom homes on its microsite. Those are probably different unit types rather than contradictions – but it is why you ask for a dated price list rather than a headline.
What payment plans does Aqua Properties offer?
None is published in text for either portal project. The Sports Arena’s microsite advertises a flexible payment plan as a graphic; The Central Downtown’s page carries no plan at all. Ask for the schedule in writing, with the split between construction and handover and the late-payment terms.
What should I check before buying an Aqua Properties home?
Escrow and DLD registration, the permit number, the main contractor, the contractual completion date and delay clause, the service-charge estimate, the individual title deed, and the building’s rules on short lets. At Central Downtown also ask which tower and phase you are in and who operates the mall below.
Are Aqua Properties’ projects good value?
In their own bands, yes, on rate: Central Downtown comes in around AED 980 to 1,481 per square foot depending on type, and the Sports Arena studio at AED 1,481 is at the top of Sports City’s studio range. Whether that is good value depends on the service charge, the rental market in each district and the delivery date you are actually committed to – not on the entry price.
Is the group the same as AQUA Developments?
AQUA Developments is the development arm’s trading name; Aqua Properties is the group and its brokerage. Both are run from the same head office, and the marketing material is shared.
How do I buy through you?
Send us the project, unit type and budget. We will pull the dated price list, check the escrow and permit records, test the service charge against the district’s rents, and give you our honest read – including the case against.
Considering an Aqua Properties home?
Tell us the project, unit type and budget. We will pull the dated price list, check the escrow and permit records, test the service charge against the district’s rents — then give you our honest read, including the case against.
Sources and verification. The company history, head office, brokerage licence, founder and project list come from Aqua Properties’ own corporate site. Unit mixes, size ranges, amenity lists, the September 2024 construction diary on The Central Downtown and the Sports Arena’s permit number and project value come from the developer’s project pages and its launch release. Entry prices and claimed completion dates come from the listing portal unless attributed to the developer. Committed to publication: the group’s own channels quote three different entry prices for The Community Sports Arena (AED 603,888, AED 850,000 and from AED 1.25 million); no payment plan is published in text for either project; the Central Downtown’s public construction updates stop in September 2024 while the portal quotes a December 2026 handover; and both projects are under construction, so there is no completed building of this developer’s to inspect. The “award-winning” description of The Central Downtown is the company’s own claim and has not been independently verified. Nothing on this page is a valuation or a promise of return.