Dubai’s iconic Toyota sign will live on after landmark building is demolished

Dubai: Dubai’s iconic Toyota sign may disappear from the Sheikh Zayed Road skyline when the landmark building beneath it is demolished but the famous red-and-white symbol is not necessarily disappearing from Dubai.

Al-Futtaim Toyota has confirmed that it plans to carry the legacy of the sign forward, although it is keeping details of what comes next under wraps.

“We have plans to carry the legacy of the famous Toyota sign forward, and we will reveal more in the coming months. For now, Al-Futtaim is keeping the details under wraps, including exactly how and where the sign will feature next. The sign has earned its place in Dubai’s story, and we are committed to ensuring its significance is honoured in a meaningful way for the future,” Jacques Brent, MD of Al-Futtaim Toyota & Lexus, told Gulf News.

The revelation comes as the Nasser Rashid Lootah Building,  better known to generations of Dubai residents as the Toyota Building, prepares to disappear from Sheikh Zayed Road.

The 15-storey building, completed in 1974, is scheduled for demolition in 2027. Around 70 per cent of its tenants had already moved out when Gulf News reported on the planned demolition last week.

For many residents, however, it was never simply an apartment building. The giant Toyota sign on its roof became so closely associated with the structure that its official name was largely eclipsed by the landmark’s nickname.

What will happen to the Toyota sign?

Al-Futtaim Toyota has not yet said whether the existing sign will be relocated, reinstalled at another site or preserved as a piece of Dubai heritage.

But Brent hinted that residents may not have to wait long to find out.

“What we can say is that Al-Futtaim wants the Toyota Building’s final chapter to be as memorable as the landmark itself. Keep your eyes up this upcoming period, you’ll know it when you see it,” Brent said.

The comments suggest that the sign’s next chapter could be revealed before the building itself comes down.

Brent said the significance of the landmark extends beyond the physical structure.

“The building may be changing, but what the sign represents is not, and we want to ensure that significance continues well beyond this final chapter,” Brent said.

A sign that became part of Dubai’s skyline

The red-and-white Toyota sign was first installed in 1981, at a time when Sheikh Zayed Road looked dramatically different from the skyscraper-lined highway it is today. The sign quickly became a familiar reference point for residents and motorists and gave the building its enduring nickname. 

The original sign remained in place for almost four decades before being removed in 2018 when its advertising contract expired.

Its absence, however, proved temporary.

Al-Futtaim Toyota brought the billboard back in 2022, saying at the time that its return followed popular demand. 

“The reaction showed us just how much the sign had become part of Dubai’s landscape and people’s memories of the city. That response has stayed with Al-Futtaim and reinforced how important it is to carry its legacy forward,” Brent added.

The sign and the building subsequently continued to stand as a visual link to an earlier Dubai, even as towers rose around them along Sheikh Zayed Road.

More than a landmark

The Toyota Building’s significance was not limited to its distinctive rooftop sign.

Al-Futtaim Toyota said conversations with long-time Dubai residents have highlighted how the landmark was also used as a navigational reference point, helping people find their way around the city before Dubai’s modern road network and digital navigation tools became ubiquitous.

That association has helped give the sign a place in the city’s collective memory.

The building was completed in 1974, just three years after the UAE was formed, and was among the early residential towers in the area. Its famous sign was added seven years later. 

Over the decades, Dubai grew dramatically around it. The low-rise landscape gave way to a corridor of skyscrapers, while the Toyota Building remained a familiar sight for generations of residents.

Now, while the building’s final chapter is approaching, Al-Futtaim Toyota says the story of the sign will continue.

“The building may be changing, but what the sign represents is not,” Brent said.