Dual licensing options light up Dubai’s office space demand
As more companies opt for dual licensing, locations such as One Za’abeel draw in demand
Dubai: The dual licensing option offered to companies is proving to be just the fuel needed for demand in Dubai’s premium office space to burn brighter. The offices at One Za’abeel sure is feeling that momentum.
“When DWTC had its free zone expansion, it meant tenants could get a dual license for the mainland operations and a free zone one,” said Henry Mathews, Director – Leasing at One Za’abeel. “We had the strategy in place for our tenants (seeking the dual license status) and that means we’re running ahead of targets on office leasing.”
The One Za’abeel, holder of a Guinness World record entry for its tallest cantilever connecting the two towers, has offices spread over 17 floors and offering 300,000 square feet of leasable area. It had entered the leasing market in March last and has clearly benefited from the surge in demand for premium office addresses in the city. In much the same way that the ICD Brookfield Place in DIFC and the Uptown Tower in JLT had done when their spaces went into leasing.
The UAE's dual licensing scheme has opened up new opportunities for free zones and mainland companies. What this does is allow companies to take a single license and operate in both jurisdictions. For a new generation of companies in the digital space and into crypto assets and the like, these dual licensing schemes have come in handy.
“What Dubai likes and what the corporate occupiers like is the flexibility – and dual licensing offers that to them,” said Mathews. “We can get people who just want to be a DWTC free zone tenant, or they might just want to be a DED(-licensed) tenant. Or they might want to actually combine offices that they have in another free zone and an onshore location and bring them into one space.”
Office 'suites'
On Tuesday (October 22), One Za'abeel announced a tie up with The Executive Centre, the Hong Kon headquartered workspace services provider. Under this, the office space will now include 27 ‘private suites’ across the two levels, which can be leased to a business tenant for periods extending from one year and through to three years.
“That tenant can lease the suite and no one else will have access to that space - it will be their own private area," said Mathews. “But within the wider One Za’abeel office offering. there will be business lounges and meeting rooms that they can book as well.
"Current tenants can use it as swing space in the building in case they outgrow their own or they need to reduce their space. It also encourages newer businesses to the building, who may then grow into the traditional space as vacancies come."
TEC also operates dedicated zones at One Central, part of the DWTC hub. "As flexible workspaces become an increasingly important part of any organisation’s real estate portfolio, the industry is witnessing accelerated growth in demand globally," said Rajat Kapur, Managing Director at TEC.
For blue-chip tenants, access to such space at a time when commercial occupancy levels are running at well over 90% in the city makes good business sense. In its latest market update, the consultancy CBRE says the average occupancy rate of assets it tracks in Dubai is around 93%, up from 92% a year earlier.
"In line with the sustained demand, office rentals rates remain on an upward trajectory, with average Prime, Grade A, Grade B, and Grade C rates seeing growth of 11%, 21% and 24%, and 19% respectively as compared to Q3 2023.