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Dubai was the natural starting point for DHG Holding in the UAE due to its liquidity, transparency, and international investor base while the UAE will continue to be its primary international growth market, given its scale and ambition, its top official says.

Blagoje Antic, Chairman of the Board, CEO, and Founder, DHG Holding, said the company’s first project in Dubai is currently under construction, with delivery scheduled for 2026, and has demonstrated strong market acceptance.

“Our UAE journey is deliberate and phased, reflecting our commitment to sustainable growth rather than rapid expansion,” Antic said during an interview.

Excerpts from the interview:

As an international real estate and construction group with its home market in Switzerland and an expanding presence in the UAE through DHG Properties, DHG is positioned at the intersection of these capital flows. How do you see this dynamic?

We are witnessing a structural rebalancing of global real estate capital. European investors are attracted to the GCC for its growth and yields, while Gulf investors value Europe for its institutional depth and long-term capital preservation rather than short-term yield.

DHG Holding, headquartered in Zurich, has a more than 30-year track record of sustainable development, which has led to the establishment of a fully vertically integrated business model in Switzerland and a clear vision for international expansion, currently focused on the UAE and the continued growth of our footprint in this real estate market.

With operations in both Europe and the UAE, we understand the expectations, risk perceptions, and decision-making frameworks on both sides. This dual positioning enables us to act as a trusted bridge, offering European investors access to UAE growth through a reliable partner with Swiss heritage and the ability to provide comprehensive on-the-ground support in the UAE.

Your expansion in the UAE has unfolded step by step, with three projects launched in Dubai so far. How does each project fit into DHG’s broader vision for the market?

Our UAE journey is deliberate and phased, reflecting our commitment to sustainable growth rather than rapid expansion.

Our first project, Helvetia Residences, marked DHG’s entry into Dubai and established the foundation of our Helvetia residential brand in the market. Located in Jumeirah Village Circle, it was conceived as a high-quality urban living concept aligned with strong end-user demand and rental fundamentals. The project is currently under construction, with delivery scheduled for 2026, and has demonstrated strong market acceptance.

Building on that momentum, we launched Helvetia Verde in Meydan Horizon, a location aligned with Dubai’s long-term urban growth corridors. This project places a stronger emphasis on green living, spatial quality, and architectural balance, reflecting both Swiss environmental thinking and Dubai’s evolving residential expectations.

Most recently, we unveiled Helvetia Marine on Dubai Islands, as our first waterfront development in the UAE. This project represents a strategic evolution for DHG Properties, positioning the Helvetia brand within one of Dubai’s most ambitious new coastal destinations. Helvetia Marine combines refined residential design with a lifestyle-oriented setting, reinforcing our confidence in Dubai Islands as a long-term value location.

Together, these three projects represent a carefully sequenced expansion across urban, green, and waterfront typologies.

Swiss quality, Dubai lifestyle is the philosophy behind DHG Properties’ projects in the UAE. How is this philosophy reflected in your developments?

At DHG Properties, “Swiss quality, Dubai lifestyle” is not just a slogan — it is an operating principle. Switzerland represents precision, discipline, high construction standards, a long-standing tradition of quality, and a long-term approach to value creation. Dubai represents vision, speed, global connectivity, and its role as a global lifestyle hub. We integrate these two worlds in our developments, creating authentic projects that offer the best of both.

From a Swiss perspective, we bring a deeply embedded culture of planning accuracy, conservative financial structuring, and quality-driven execution. Every project is approached with a long-term ownership mindset rather than a short-term exit mentality. From Dubai, we embrace international design sensibilities, elevated lifestyles, community-driven concepts, and the ambition to continuously redefine urban living.

The result is residential developments that combine refined design, construction quality, and operational efficiency with lifestyle-driven amenities and locations that resonate with both investors and residents. This philosophy allows us to deliver projects that are not only attractive at launch, but resilient and competitive throughout their lifecycle.

DHG is primarily focusing on the mid-to-upper-premium segment, where demand continues to outpace supply. Do you have a plan to explore other segments?

Our focus on the mid-to-upper-premium segment is intentional and rooted in market fundamentals. This segment offers the strongest balance between depth of demand, pricing resilience, and long-term asset quality, particularly in Dubai, where the majority of international buyers and long-term residents prioritise quality, location, and lifestyle, favouring affordable luxury over purely price-driven or ultra-luxury offerings. Other niches require a different approach and operating model. At this stage, DHG’s strengths like Swiss quality, architectural detail, and lifecycle-driven development, are best applied where value is driven by the differentiation we deliver through our Helvetia projects.

How do DHG’s ambitions align with the UAE government’s vision, including UAE Vision 2031 and Dubai Urban Plan 2040?

The UAE’s long-term planning frameworks are among the country’s strongest global differentiators. They emphasize sustainability, quality of life, efficient land use, and economic diversification. Our projects are designed to support compact urban growth, community-oriented living, and efficient infrastructure usage. We focus on locations that are part of long-term master plans rather than speculative zones, and we design buildings that age well both technically and architecturally. In this sense, DHG’s investment horizon and operational mindset align closely with the UAE government’s vision.

Do you plan to explore investment opportunities in other parts of the UAE, such as Abu Dhabi or Ras Al Khaimah? And beyond the UAE, how do you view potential expansion into other GCC markets?

Dubai was the natural starting point for DHG in the UAE due to its liquidity, transparency, and international investor base. However, our view of the UAE is broader and long term. Abu Dhabi, in particular, is of strong interest to us. Its focus on institutional-grade development, sustainability, and long-term urban planning aligns closely with Swiss development values.

The UAE will continue to be our primary international growth market, given its scale and ambition. Beyond that, we see selective opportunities across the GCC, but any expansion will remain measured. Our goal is not geographic footprint for its own sake; rather, we aim to be recognised for a resilient real estate platform that delivers consistency in quality and value creation.