Abu Dhabi office rentals are rising, achieving rates of up to AED 3500 per sq. m. (for ground floor sites of corporate headquarters and showrooms).
The Abu Dhabi office sector has experienced steady growth since 1978 peaking in the early 1980's when the supply of office space doubled in 1982 and again 1983. Since 2000, office supply has doubled to 460,000 m2 of gross floor area (GFA). As the Abu Dhabi 2030 master plan takes shape, office supply is set to explode.
Strong demand...
Occupancy levels are 98% but the overall quality of stock is poor, with many buildings lacking even basic facilities like adequate parking spaces. Strong demand resulted in 30% average increases in rental rates between 2005 and 2006. This commercial real estate boom has been driven by a massive historic under supply across all of the key real estate sectors. Rents will therefore continue to rise until new supply comes on the market in 2009.
Supply
Approximately 415,000m2 of office space GFA is under construction in the city.
