With its futuristic design, Aldar's coin-shaped headquarters will be a fitting home to one of its anchor tenants, Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC). Aldar said yesterday that ATIC, an Abu Dhabi Government-owned investment company, had leased 6,840 square metres of space in the 23-storey building, one of the first to be completed in Al Raha Beach area. But ATIC won't be the only one setting up shop in what analysts describe as one of the first "Grade A" office buildings to be developed in Abu Dhabi.
Aldar, which will take up 20 per cent of the building, said advanced negotiations were being concluded with other tenants to lease a "substantial proportion" of the rest. In May, Aldar told The National it was in discussions with prospective tenants about leasing 40 per cent of the building, which will include a gym, restaurants and shops. The building can now be accessed from the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway through two main intersections from both directions, Aldar said.
"It is certainly a unique building but companies who move there are going to have specific needs, such as maybe aviation-related companies, due to the proximity to Abu Dhabi [International] Airport," said JP Grobbelaar, the director of Middle East for Colliers International, a property consultancy. "It's quite a distance from the central business district." However, other analysts said the building should benefit from being located between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with its stunning architecture attracting more tenants.
Abu Dhabi commercial rents fell by 23.7 per cent last year to an average rate of Dh267 (US$72.69) a square foot, according to a rents survey by the property consultancy CB Richard Ellis's global office released in April. Abu Dhabi is the 19th most expensive office market in the world. Prices will face additional pressure as the amount of office space rises by 19 per cent this year to 2.13 million sq metres.
@Email:agiuffrida@thenational.ae
