Back to blog
Ben Parkinson
Ben Parkinson
  • 1 Minute Read
  • 16th January 2013

Al Sahaa tower most costly Dubai office deal of 2012

The acquisition of an office in Downtown Dubai’s Al Sahaa tower for Dh18.44m was the highest value commercial property transaction of 2012 in the emirate, according to the latest report from analysts REIDIN.

Four of the top 10 commercial property sales were located in the Business Bay district, whilst Downtown Dubai and Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) shared the remaining spoils with three premium transactions each.

Whilst the 542 sq m office in Al Sahaa tower sold for an unprecedented Dh18.44m, similarly mammoth deals were recorded for a 722 sq m office in Bayswater Tower (Bayswater Bay) and a 1,024 sq m office in Vision Tower (Business Bay), which sold for Dh15.39m and Dh14.32m respectively.

In a report from late 2012, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) - the global real estate consultancy - claimed that the Dubai commercial property market was beginning to show indicators of a gradual recovery, with the potential for rental growth in prime, high occupancy properties before the close of 2013.

Dubai’s explosive construction rates were shown to be un-sustainable by the end of 2011, and the trend continued into 2012 with only 570,000 sq m of additional office space bought onto the market – the equivalent of a 40% drop on figures from the year before.

Projections from JLL suggest that approximately 1.2m sq m of office space will be added to the market in 2013, although they stress that this may not be representative of a consistent trajectory.

58% of current office stock is under single ownership, whilst the remaining 42% is held in strata title buildings. The latter are most prevalent in locations such as TECOM C, JLT and Business Bay, with vacancies remaining substantially higher than in the central business district.

Top 10 office deals in Dubai, 2012:

  1. Al Sahaa tower - Dh18.44m

  2. Bayswater Tower –Dh15.39

  3. Vision Tower – Dh14.32

  4. Gold Tower – Dh9.86m

  5. Emaar Square 4 – Dh9.78m

  6. Vision Tower – Dh9.45m

  7. Almas Tower – Dh9.37m

  8. Vision Tower – Dh9.23m

  9. Gold Tower – Dh7.97m

  10. Al Sahaa tower – Dh7.5m