Business Bay gets to speed with retail options

Dubai’s tower cluster Now has the scale to plug into the sizeable residential and commercial offerings

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The Business Bay tower cluster finally has the retail options to match the rest of what it had to offer, which has made it one of the popular office and residential locations in Dubai.

There is now 200,000 square feet of fresh retail at the massive Bay Square high-rise cluster. Combined with what is already available at Bay Avenue, this takes available the capacity to 700,000 square feet, according to Dubai Properties, the master-developer.

“The strip of retail — through 150 shops — at Bay Avenue has a daily visitor turnout of 5,000-6,000 on weekdays and going much higher on weekends,” said Mohammad Bin Eisa, Executive Director of Retail and Commercial Properties at the developer. “Now, Bay Square adds another 123 outlets into the mix, of which 90 per cent have been leased.

“For the remaining 10 per cent, we are targeting prominent retailers to take up locations in strategic areas, such as those overlooking the fountains, etc”

As of now, 60-65 per cent of the Bay Square leasing has been picked up by food and beverage (F&B) operators, which is well in keeping with the needs of the growing consumer base there, as well as the general ambience. The lease rates have not been revealed. The outlets are on average around 1,200-1,300 square feet in size, though variants starting from 500 square feet to 3,800 are also there. They occupy the ground and mezzanine levels.

The user base is going to get bigger with the completion of the 575 offices at Bay Square, plus the 325 residences.

“All of the units were sold immediately after the launch of the project two-and-a-half years ago,” said Essa. “So, for the retailers at Bay Square, we are bringing both a substantial workforce and a resident base within their reach.” (At the time of the launch, prices were in the Dh1,200 a square foot and over range, according to market analysts.)

 

There is also a hotel component, which should be complete in the 18 months or thereabouts. The operator will be “one of the top four names” in the hospitality sector, Essa added.

“While Dubai Properties has further prime plots in Business Bay, for the time being there are no plans for a new project launch,” Essa added.

Construction schedules

Even if the master-developer has taken a pause on new launches, there are several private developers who are in various stages with their own construction schedules. A couple of these relate to projects that were revived following the infusion of new funds or investors.

On the hospitality side, Business Bay is wearing a full look. Apart from the flagship JW Marriott Marquis fronting Shaikh Zayed Road, there are those operated by the Taj and Oberoi groups as well as another by the Steigenberger Hotel Group.

“The rental prospects for the Business Bay community remain intact over the long-term. However, we expect rents to remain subdued over the next year, (while for) prime properties closer to transit areas will remain steady. On the sales side, (community-wide) sales prices have corrected 8-12 per cent over the last year.”

“Delivery of large-scale projects such as Bay Square has put a large number of units in the market, which will take a while to absorb.”

“The top three properties in Business Bay from an investor’s point of view would be Executive Towers, Bay Square and Bay Gate.”

 

credit to Gulf News