Dubai: Leases of 5- or 6 years will be available for blue-chip tenants seeking super-premium offices at Dubai's One Za'abeel twin-tower development. This represents one of the most prestigious office addresses opening in Dubai in recent years, a list that includes ICD Brookfield in DIFC and the Uptown Tower, part of the expanded DMCC hub.
The developer of One Za'abeel, Ithara (itself part of the Investment Corporation of Dubai), will also be offering office leases for shorter durations of 1- or 2 years, according to a top official.
"The longer duration leases will be on the shell-and-core basis, while on the shorter leases, we come up with the fit-outs and bespoke requirements of these tenants," said Henry Mathews, Leasing Director of One Za'abeel. "We will be launching our own 'white-label' solutions provider to take care of these."
The developer is billing the location as the 'gateway to Dubai’s Central Business District'. "We believe business success is accelerated with the right location," said Issam Galadari, Director of One Za’abeel Holdings.
What we have with the offices at one Za'abeel is the One& Only experience across 300,000 square feet of GLA.
Demand for Grade A office space has been on the surge, whether it's existing businesses seeking new addresses with state-of-the-art features thrown in. or brand new entities launching in Dubai their regional hubs or headquarters. ICD Brookfield was the first to feel this surge to good effect and, more recently, the Uptown Tower had heavy leasing interest even before the project was complete.
"We are well aware of the office leasing trends in Dubai," said Mathews. "What we have with the offices at one Za'abeel is the One& Only experience across 300,000 square feet of GLA (Gross Leasable Area)."
The twin-tower also features residences, two hotels and retail plus F&B options. Offices coming in add to the mix of a 'city' - a super-upscale one, for sure - within a city. The 300,000 square feet of offices take up 17 floors, between 5- to the 21st floor on one of the towers. (Apart from the One&Only hotel, there is a second one within the twin towers, called the 'Siro'.)
Benefit from dual licensing options
The One Za'abeel can take in corporate tenants on a DWTC free zone license as well as those with one for mainland operations, according to Mathews. (Dual licensing allows companies to operate with both free zone and mainland credentials. The DWTC Authority, incidentally, is also the go-to place for virtual asset companies.)
The leasing is being done by CBRE and JLL. Matthews declined to go into the specifics of lease rate. Currently, top-notch office towers on Shaikh Zayed Road and DIFC are leasing for anywhere between Dh250-Dh350 a square foot.
"For the longer leases, we've been getting interest from MNCs primarily," said Mathews. "We will build up the tenant mix from there. With that, we will have a full eco-system going at the One Za'abeel."
