From the GTA to the Gulf: Ladan Hosseinzadeh Sadeghi on Sky Property Group's International Expansion into Dubai

The Toronto-based developer explains why Dubai captured her attention, how the two markets compare, and what a truly global real estate strategy looks like.

Most Canadian real estate developers are consumed by the demands of their own market — and with good reason. The Greater Toronto Area remains one of North America's most active, most complex, and most land-constrained development environments. But Ladan Hosseinzadeh Sadeghi, President & CEO of Sky Property Group Inc., has set her sights beyond Canada's borders. Over the past several years, Sky Property Group has established a meaningful presence in Dubai — one of the world's most dynamic real estate markets — and Ladan has become a keen observer of how capital, culture, and city-building intersect on a global stage.

We sat down with Ladan to explore what drew Sky Property Group to the Gulf, how the Dubai market compares to Toronto, and what international diversification really means for a Canadian developer.

Q: When did Dubai first enter your thinking as a market, and what made it feel like the right move?

A: Dubai has been on my radar for years, but I think the moment it moved from "interesting" to "actionable" was when I started seeing how seriously the UAE was investing in its infrastructure and regulatory environment to attract international capital and talent. This wasn't just a destination for luxury vacation properties — it was becoming a genuinely sophisticated real estate market with transparent transaction processes and a government that was actively incentivizing long-term investment.

For a developer like me, the question is always: where does the regulatory environment allow you to work efficiently, where is demand durable, and where are you building in a city that's genuinely going somewhere? Dubai checked all three boxes. So we went.

Q: What specific opportunities does the Dubai market offer that appealed to you from a developer's perspective?

A: A few things stand out. First, the sheer scale of ambition in Dubai is unlike anything you see in most other cities. The government has a long-term urban vision — they're building toward 2040 with a master plan that encompasses transportation, sustainability, and population growth — and that kind of governmental commitment creates a stable environment for developers.

Second, the market is truly international in a way that even Toronto isn't. You have buyers and investors from Europe, Asia, South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East all participating in the same market. That diversity of demand is actually a form of resilience — you're not dependent on any single buyer pool.

Third, the price points and returns remain compelling relative to comparable gateway cities. When you look at what you can build, what you can sell it for, and what the construction and land costs are, the math is still favorable in a way that's become genuinely challenging to achieve in Toronto.

Q: How would you describe the key differences between the GTA and Dubai markets for someone unfamiliar with both?

A: They're more similar than most people expect in terms of the fundamental dynamics — both are cities experiencing significant population growth, both have land constraints that drive intensification, and both attract global capital. But the differences in how you operate are significant.

In Toronto, the entitlement process — getting a project approved and permitted — is the most complex, longest, and most risk-laden part of development. It can take years, and the outcome is never certain. In Dubai, the government's approach to development approvals is far more streamlined. They want development to happen. The process reflects that.

The other major difference is ownership structure. Canada has freehold ownership that most buyers understand implicitly. In Dubai, you have a range of structures — freehold, leasehold, strata-equivalent — and international buyers need to understand which zones and which projects offer which protections. That's not a barrier, but it does require education, and it's something we spend real time on with our clients and partners.

Q: Are there challenges to operating across two markets simultaneously, especially markets as different as Toronto and Dubai?

A: Absolutely. The time difference alone — eight hours between Toronto and Dubai — means that someone on your team is always working outside of normal hours if you want real-time communication across both offices. You adapt. But more fundamentally, the challenge is cultural and relational. Business in the UAE is built on relationships in a way that's even more pronounced than in Canada. Trust is everything, and trust is built slowly, in person, through consistency. You can't manage that from a distance.

What this has meant practically is that I invest significant time in Dubai — not just attending conferences or doing due diligence visits, but building genuine long-term relationships with local partners, government bodies, and market participants. That's not a shortcut. It's the only way to operate effectively in that environment.

Q: How has the expansion changed Sky Property Group as a company?

A: It's made us sharper. Operating in two very different regulatory and cultural environments forces you to question assumptions you didn't know you were making. Things we took for granted about how deals get structured, how financing works, how relationships function — all of that got stress-tested when we entered a market where the rules were different.

We've also built a team that's genuinely international in its expertise and perspective. That has value beyond Dubai — it changes how we think about opportunities in the GTA as well, because our team brings a broader view of what urban development can look like.

Q: Where do you see Sky Property Group's international presence in five years?

A: Dubai remains the primary international focus for the near term, and I see significant growth there. We have relationships and pipeline that we're actively developing, and I'm optimistic about where that goes.

Beyond Dubai, I'd be surprised if we weren't at least exploring other markets in the region or elsewhere. The discipline of international development — understanding how to evaluate a market you didn't grow up in, how to build partnerships across cultural distance — is a capability. Once you develop it, you can deploy it in new places.

But I'm also clear-eyed that expansion for its own sake isn't a strategy. We will go where the opportunity is real and where we can genuinely add value. Not everywhere. Deliberately.

Q: What would you say to Canadian developers who are thinking about international diversification but haven't taken the step yet?

A: Start with the relationships, not the assets. Before you identify a property or a project, identify people on the ground who know the market and who you can trust. That will save you from mistakes that are very expensive to make in a market you don't yet understand.

And be honest about your timeline. International expansion is a long game. If you need returns in eighteen months, this isn't it. If you're building a ten-year strategy and you want some of that capital diversified across geographies and currencies, then it's absolutely worth the investment of time and attention.

Sky Property Group Inc. is a Toronto-based land development company specializing in GTA land assembly and high-rise development, with an international presence in Dubai, UAE. For more information, visit skypminc.com.