The last remaining development plot on Al Maryah Island — Abu Dhabi\'s international financial centre and core hub of ADGM — has been spoken for. The headline is the size of the cheque. The story underneath is what doubling Grade A office supply does to a city already running 11,000 active licences.
The joint venture between Aldar and Mubadala is structured to develop the remaining buildable area on Al Maryah in a single coordinated programme. Total development value crosses AED 60 billion. The number sets the benchmark for the scale of single-island development the emirate is now executing — closer in ambition to a Hudson Yards build-out than to the conventional master-plan rhythm of the Gulf.
What the brochure says, in five lines: 1.5 million square metres of new gross floor area. 450,000 square metres of Grade A office space, roughly doubling the existing supply on the island. 40,000 square metres of luxury retail and food and beverage. Three new bridges, and 2.5 kilometres of climate-controlled pedestrian walkways. Enabling works start in 2026.
Why doubling office supply is the headline number.
ADGM today holds 11,000+ active commercial licences and houses roughly 40,000 finance professionals. The licence base has been growing at a double-digit pace for three consecutive years. The constraint, increasingly, has been physical: Grade A space inside ADGM has been quietly tightening. Rents on the island have moved up, vacancy has moved down, and the recent arrival of Singaporean funds opening regional offices has reset the demand curve again.
450,000 square metres of new Grade A delivery is the answer. It is also the kind of supply addition that historically softens rents in the medium term — a useful detail for tenants — while creating a meaningfully larger leasable base for institutional landlords. The arbitrage between current ADGM rents and the cost basis Aldar and Mubadala are locking in today is the structural opportunity.
"We are unlocking the potential of the last remaining development plot on the island, accelerating its transformation into one of the world\'s most dynamic financial and lifestyle hubs."— Mubadala
The numbers on a single page.
What this means for investors.
For office investors, the short-term framing is straightforward: medium-term yield compression on existing Grade A stock as the new supply gets absorbed by the ADGM licensing pipeline. For residential investors in the immediate adjacency, the long-term thesis sharpens — premium walking-distance product is going to see structural demand uplift as the white-collar population grows.
For retail and F&B, 40,000 square metres of new luxury and dining inventory is a category-redefining supply event. Existing operators on the island have been benefiting from constrained competition. That dynamic shifts within five years. Site selection inside the new development will matter more than rent.
For the macro thesis we set out in the previous brief on Abu Dhabi resilience, this is direct evidence. AED 60 billion of capital committed to a single-island programme is not the action of a market in pause. It is the action of a market that has decided what comes next, and is paying for it.
"This marks a pivotal milestone in the evolution of a global financial centre, with ADGM at its core."— Aldar
The OSNOVA read.
Three takeaways. One: this is a fundamental long-term driver for price growth in Abu Dhabi commercial — offices, retail assets, and premium adjacent residential — over the next five to ten years. Two: the window between announcement and enabling works (today through 2026) is when entry pricing on adjacent existing stock can still be set without the new-supply narrative fully priced in. Three: if the question was whether Abu Dhabi is in a recovery or in an expansion cycle, this transaction is the answer.
The first OSNOVA off-plan review benchmarking a new Al Maryah launch against post-JV DLD comparables will publish as soon as the first phase pricing becomes available.
OSNOVA reviews every major UAE off-plan launch against DLD comparables. Premium tier gets the first read.
Renders: Aldar / Mubadala official press materials. For informational purposes only — not investment advice. Verify all figures via Aldar and Mubadala official disclosure before any transaction decision.