Ellington Properties was founded in Dubai in 2014 by Robert Booth, who previously ran Emaar's Dubai real estate business, and Joseph Thomas, an entrepreneur who moved into property in 2006. Elie Naaman, a former DAMAC sales director, is co-founder and chief executive. Booth is managing director. The founders initially funded the company from their own resources and from private investors in individual projects.
The people at a glance
- Robert D. Booth: co-founder and managing director. Previously chief executive of Emaar's Dubai real estate business.
- Elie Naaman: co-founder and chief executive officer. Previously director of sales at DAMAC Properties.
- Joseph Thomas: co-founder. An entrepreneur who started his first business in 2000 and moved into real estate in 2006.
- Founded: 2014, in Dubai.
- Ownership: private. The current shareholding is not published.
How Ellington started
Ellington Properties was set up in 2014, the same year its best-known founder left Emaar. Reporting in The National in 2016 described it as the venture of Robert Booth, formerly chief executive of Emaar's Dubai real estate operations, and Joseph Thomas, who was a managing director and shareholder. The partners funded the business from their own resources and from wealthy private investors who backed individual projects.
The founders described Ellington as a boutique developer, built around design, product quality and customer experience rather than volume. Booth told The National the goal was not to be the biggest developer but "the most respected". Its first project, Belgravia in Jumeirah Village Circle, was a four-storey building of 181 apartments.
Robert D. Booth, co-founder and managing director
Booth is a Canadian property developer whose career spans two of the largest master-planned programmes of their era.
Concord Pacific, Canada
Before Dubai, Booth worked for the Concord group in Canada. He worked on Concord Pacific Place, a master-planned waterfront district in Vancouver. In Toronto, he led a multibillion-dollar development programme at CityPlace, according to Ellington's own biography of him.
Emaar, Dubai
Booth moved to Emaar in Dubai and rose to run its real estate business there. Ellington credits him with Emirates Hills, Dubai Marina, Arabian Ranches and Downtown Dubai, the district around Burj Khalifa. In 2008 Vancouver Magazine profiled him as Emaar's executive director of global development. At that time he was opening Emaar's first North American office in Vancouver.
In December 2014, Emaar announced that Booth would leave his role as chief executive of its Dubai real estate business at the end of the year. Emaar said he would remain an adviser to its chairman.
Ellington and related ventures
Booth co-founded Ellington in 2014 and is its managing director. In 2021, Khaleej Times reported the launch of Ellington Capital, an asset and fund management business started by Ellington Properties, with Booth as executive chairman. Forbes Middle East ranked him 66th on its 2024 list of the region's most impactful real estate leaders.
He holds a master's degree in real property development and planning from the University of British Columbia.
Elie Naaman, co-founder and chief executive
Naaman is Ellington's chief executive and is listed by the company and Forbes Middle East as a co-founder. Forbes Middle East reports that he was previously director of sales at DAMAC Properties, one of Dubai's largest developers. Ellington's biography describes a career of more than 20 years across hospitality, real estate, architecture and design. It says the hospitality background shapes how the company thinks about service.
Forbes Middle East ranked him 48th on its 2025 list of the most impactful real estate leaders and 47th in 2026. Its 2026 profile reported that Ellington had 3,220 completed units and 12,622 units under construction in the UAE in 2025.
In interviews, Naaman puts design, amenities and service at the centre of Ellington's offer, supported by research and by partnerships with designers and architects. In a 2024 Gulf Business interview he described the UAE market as resilient. He named Abu Dhabi, and later Europe, as expansion targets. He has also described Ras Al Khaimah as a strategic growth market for the company.
Joseph Thomas, co-founder
Thomas co-founded Ellington with Booth and was joint managing director in its early years. Ellington describes him as a first-generation entrepreneur who launched his first business in 2000 and moved into real estate in 2006. He is known for structuring complex transactions and large mixed-use projects. He holds a postgraduate degree in business management from XLRI, the Xavier School of Management in India.
Thomas is the voice on several of Ellington's partnership announcements. These include the Dutco Ellington joint venture with the Dubai conglomerate Dutco, and a partnership with DMCC for a residential project in Jumeirah Lakes Towers. In 2026 statements on new launches he has argued that buyers judge value more carefully, and that execution and the quality of life around a home matter more.
The wider leadership team
| Name | Role | Background, as published by Ellington |
|---|---|---|
| Mark J. Amirault | Chief Development Officer | Joined in 2015 as Director of Design. Ellington's announcement described him as a former project director of Burj Khalifa and managing director of Emaar's international projects. |
| Kevin Yates | Chief Construction Officer | Mechanical engineer with about 40 years' experience, working in UAE construction since 1995, including as a general manager at Emaar. |
| Lawrence Martin | Executive Director, Development | Architect working in the UK and UAE since the early 1990s. He joined as Director of Development and was later promoted. |
| Vamshi Krishna | Chief Financial Officer | Listed on Ellington's leadership page. |
What the leadership means for the new master community
Ellington built its name mostly on individual apartment buildings. A master community of an estimated 3,000+ homes is a different discipline, and the people at the top have done it before. Booth's career began on master-planned districts in Vancouver and Toronto. At Emaar he oversaw communities such as Arabian Ranches and Emirates Hills, which sit a short drive from the new community's location in Al Yalayis 1. Several of the senior team also came from Emaar's development and construction side.
That experience is no guarantee of how this particular community will be delivered. It does mean the planning of a large, low-rise neighbourhood is familiar ground for the people running the company. Ellington had not published an official announcement of the master community, or any executive statement about it, at the time of writing. We will update this article when it does.
This article covers professional, publicly reported information only. Job titles and dates come from Ellington's leadership pages and the press sources listed below. Where sources disagree on a date, we have left the date out.
Questions people ask
Who founded Ellington Properties?
Robert Booth and Joseph Thomas founded Ellington Properties in Dubai in 2014, according to The National. Elie Naaman is also described as a co-founder by the company and by Forbes Middle East.
Who is the CEO of Ellington Properties?
Elie Naaman is co-founder and chief executive officer. Forbes Middle East ranked him 47th on its 2026 list of the most impactful real estate leaders in the Middle East.
Who owns Ellington Properties?
Ellington is privately held and its current shareholding is not published. In 2016 The National described Robert Booth and Joseph Thomas as the founders, with Thomas also a shareholder, and reported that the company was funded by the partners and by private investors in its projects.
Did Ellington's founder work at Emaar?
Yes. Robert Booth led Emaar's Dubai real estate business, where his portfolio included Emirates Hills, Dubai Marina, Arabian Ranches and Downtown Dubai. Emaar announced his departure in December 2014, saying he would stay on as an adviser to the chairman.
Is Ellington Properties related to Ellington Financial?
No. Ellington Properties is a Dubai property developer. It is not connected to the US investment firms Ellington Financial or Ellington Management Group.
Sources
- Robert D. Booth: Co-Founder and Managing Director · Ellington Properties
- Elie Naaman: Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer · Ellington Properties
- Joseph Thomas: Co-Founder · Ellington Properties
- Kevin Yates: Chief Construction Officer · Ellington Properties
- Ellington appoints Mark Amirault as Director of Design · Ellington Properties · 26 June 2015
- Ellington Properties set to hand over Dubai homes before end of year · The National · 20 April 2016
- Ellington plans 14 projects in Dubai · Khaleej Times · 21 April 2016
- Emaar announces new management structure · MEED · 31 December 2014
- Emaar Properties says Dubai real estate head to leave at year-end · Gulf Business · 22 December 2014
- Dubai West: Robert Booth and Emaar's Vancouver office · Vancouver Magazine · 2 May 2008
- Most Impactful Real Estate Leaders 2024: Robert Booth · Forbes Middle East · 2024
- Most Impactful Real Estate Leaders 2025: Elie Naaman · Forbes Middle East · 16 April 2025
- Most Impactful Real Estate Leaders 2026: Elie Naaman · Forbes Middle East · 5 May 2026
- Ellington Capital appoints new CEO · Khaleej Times · 29 March 2021
- Ellington Properties CEO shares key market trends · Gulf Business · 2 October 2024
- Interview with Elie Naaman · Villa88 · 12 November 2024
- Dutco and Ellington Properties to develop high-end residential projects in Dubai · Zawya
- Ellington Properties named the fastest-growing real estate brand globally · Gulf News · 2 June 2023
Independent information by IMARA Real Estate, not the official website of Ellington Properties. Figures about the new master community are pre-launch estimates and may change. Facts about Ellington’s history and projects are taken from the sources listed above as of 20 October 2026.
