Dubai's Uptown Tower office space fully leased, with work on new towers starting 'soon'


Ian Oxborrow
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Office space at the new Uptown Tower development in Dubai's Jumeirah Lakes Towers has been fully leased before its completion later this year, said the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, the free zone behind the project.

The DMCC also confirmed that work on the next two commercial towers in the project is set to commence “soon”.

The 79-floor tower, which stands at 340 metres, making it the 14th tallest in Dubai, has 495,000 square feet of Grade A office space across 22 floors.

Anchor tenants will include Hisense, HIKVision, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), and it will also be home to DMCC’s new headquarters.

“Reinforced by a range of leading global businesses selecting Uptown Tower as the base for their Middle East and international operations, pre-leasing 100 per cent of Uptown Tower’s office space ahead of the completion is yet another testament to investor confidence in both DMCC and Dubai’s thriving economy,” said DMCC executive chairman and chief executive Ahmed bin Sulayem.

The building will also have about 2,000 residential units and a SO Sofitel five-star hotel. Its diamond-shape design was in line with DMCC's diamond and gold trading.

Mr bin Sulayem previously told The National that the project was built in response to growing demand for office and commercial space.

“The demand for services in Dubai is increasing all the time,” he said. “It is rivalling the traditional centres of the world and while the pandemic shocked a lot of people, Dubai proved itself during that time.”

Dubai has benefitted from the availability of Grade A space at a cheaper cost, compared with other office centres in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa region, Savills said in its first Global Capital Markets Quarterly update in June.

“The office market in Dubai remains an attractive investment opportunity, with estimated cash-on-cash prime office yields over 8 per cent, second only to Mumbai and highest among the western and Asian countries ranked,” said Edward Price, Savills’ associate director of capital markets in the Middle East.

Dubai is also expected to grow its flexible office space as corporate entities look to adapt and employees seek an alternative to working from home, Savills said this week.

It highlighted Dubai's growth potential on the back of the UAE's strong economic rebound during the past year.

In Dubai, flexible space operators across are recording high occupancy levels, with a few players reporting 100 per cent occupancy and charting plans to further expand offerings across Dubai, Savills said.

The citywide ValuStrat Price Index for Dubai's offices was 20.6 per cent higher than the same period last year, reaching 76.1 points at the end of the second quarter.

ValuStrat said the highest quarter-on-quarter performers were Downtown Dubai (3.9 per cent), Jumeirah Lakes Towers (2.3 per cent) and the DIFC (2.2 per cent).

Dubai's tallest towers

1. Burj Khalifa - 828 metres

2. Marina 101 - 425 metres

3. Princess Tower 413.4 metres

4. 23 Marina - 392.4 metres

5. Elite Residence - 380.5 metres

6. The Address Boulevard 370 metres

7. Ciel Tower - 365.5 metres (under construction)

8. Almas Tower - 360 metres

9. Gevora Hotel - 356.3 metres

10. Il Primo Tower 1 - 356 metres (topped out)

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Started: November 2017

Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport and logistics

Size: 150 employees

Investment: approximately $8 million

Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar

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Starring: Hani Razmzi, Maya Nasir and Hassan Hosny

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Norwich City 0 Southampton 3 (Ings 49', Armstrong 54', Redmond 79')

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UAE SQUAD

Omar Abdulrahman (Al Hilal), Ali Khaseif, Ali Mabkhout, Salem Rashed, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Zayed Al Ameri, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Khalid Essa, Ahmed Barman, Ryan Yaslam, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmin (Al Wasl), Adel Al Hosani, Ali Hassan Saleh, Majed Suroor (Sharjah), Ahmed Khalil, Walid Abbas, Majed Hassan, Ismail Al Hammadi (Shabab Al Ahli), Hassan Al Muharrami, Fahad Al Dhahani (Bani Yas), Mohammed Al Shaker (Ajman)

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Deportivo La Coruna 2 Barcelona 4
Deportivo:
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Barcelona: Coutinho (6'), Messi (37', 81', 84')

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  • Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
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What are the regulations?
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1) Kepa Arrizabalaga, Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea (£72m)

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3) Ederson, Benfica to Manchester City (£35m)

4) Gianluigi Buffon, Parma to Juventus (£33m)

5) Angelo Peruzzi, Inter Milan to Lazio (£15.7m

Asia Cup Qualifier

Venue: Kuala Lumpur

Result: Winners play at Asia Cup in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in September

Fixtures:

Wed Aug 29: Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore

Thu Aug 30: UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman

Sat Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal

Sun Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore

Tue Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong

Thu Sep 6: Final

 

Asia Cup

Venue: Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Schedule: Sep 15-28

Teams: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, plus the winner of the Qualifier

UAE squad

Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.

UAE tour of Zimbabwe

All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Indoor cricket in a nutshell

Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai

16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side

8 There are eight players per team

There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.

5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls

Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership

Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.

Zones

A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs

B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run

Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs

Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full

Meydan race card

6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; (Dirt) 1,200m
7.05pm: Handicap; Dh170,000; (D) 1,200m​​​​​​​
7.40pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; (D) 1,900m​​​​​​​
8.15pm: Handicap; Dh185,000; (D) 2,000m​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
8.50pm: Handicap; Dh185,000; (D) 1,600m​​​​​​​
9.25pm: Handicap; Dh165,000; (D) 2,000m

Updated: September 02, 2022, 3:57 AM`