CommerCity is adding offices near Dubai International just as flights may start moving to Al Maktoum. Does the campus logic hold?

Dubai CommerCity is due to open the first of six new office buildings in early 2027, the same year Dubai Airports' CEO says flydubai could start moving aircraft from nearby Dubai International to Al Maktoum International. The campus sells its location near the airport. The phase-two release does not mention the airport at all. That leaves an open question for anyone leasing or lending there: what a campus sold on its closeness to the airport is worth once the airport's operations move.

Disclosure: “Dubai Office Summit”, organised by RealTimes, is hosted at Spaces, an IWG brand, in Dubai CommerCity. Spaces runs a flexible workspace in CommerCity, launched with the free zone in 2023. RealTimes has been in contact with Dubai CommerCity about the event. We report on the campus as we would on any other, and the hosting arrangement does not change what we publish.

What was announced?

The Dubai Media Office announced a second phase for Dubai CommerCity with total investments exceeding AED 1.8bn, delivered between Q1 2027 and Q4 2028. The release names three clusters and more than 91,000 sqm:

• Business: six new office buildings in two waves, Q1 2027 and Q1 2028, offered as shell-and-core, fully fitted or plug-and-play space.
• Logistics: The Hive, a 5,600 sqm vertical facility with 181 flexible units starting from 5 sqm.
• Social: shops, restaurants, cafes and services.

CommerCity is a joint venture of the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ) and Wasl Group. The release gives no breakdown of the AED 1.8bn and names no lenders, contractors or rents. The campus itself began in 2021, when the first phase delivered over 320,000 sq ft of offices and 145,000 sq ft of logistics space, Gulf News reported.

Why does the nearby airport matter?

The campus sits in the Umm Ramool area, near Dubai International (DXB), and its operator sells that position. In November 2025 a CommerCity executive told the Emirates News Agency that the zone's location near Dubai International Airport enhances export and re-export efficiency, with its DCC Way ecosystem giving access to around 3 billion consumers within five hours of flight time.

The airport plans raise a question about that position. In April 2024 the Dubai Media Office announced a new passenger terminal at Al Maktoum International (DWC), set to be built at a cost of AED 128bn, as part of a plan for up to 260 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo a year. The announcement quoted the Ruler of Dubai saying "all operations at Dubai International Airport will be transferred to it in the coming years".

Dubai Airports has since put dates on parts of that move.

• In October 2025 its CEO, Paul Griffiths, said DXB would reach about 114 to 115 million passengers by 2031, probably its maximum, "and then we make the full transition to DWC in 2032".
• In September 2026 he said flydubai would probably be the first airline to move, with five or six aircraft relocating from DXB as early as next year. Gulf News noted that the first airline move is not confirmed, and that the full transfer of DXB operations is planned once the first 150 million-passenger phase at DWC is available, which it places in the early 2030s.

Set side by side, which is our compilation, the dates line up like this:

1. Early 2027: the first CommerCity office buildings are due, and the first flydubai aircraft may move (not confirmed). 2. Q1 2028: the second wave of office buildings. 3. Q4 2028: the phase-two programme completes. 4. 2032: the full transition to Al Maktoum International, as the CEO put it in October 2025.

So, if the October 2025 date holds, the new buildings would have about four to five years near a working Dubai International before the full move. The destination airport already has an e-commerce zone of its own: Dubai South, the city built around Al Maktoum International, runs EZDubai, which has over 920,000 square metres of facilities, according to a 2025 interview.

None of this shows that CommerCity loses its logic. Offices for digital firms may care more about the free-zone licence and the customs platform than about the runway. What is missing is any public statement from DIEZ, Wasl or CommerCity on the campus's role after the full move, and any date for when DXB's cargo moves.

How full is the campus today?

Full, on the operator's figures, but the figures have changed shape. In November 2025 the same executive put the Logistics District at 100% and the Business District at about 98% occupied, and said processed orders rose 158% in a year. In October 2026 the phase-two release gave one blended figure: occupancy of nearly 96% across office, logistics and retail space. It also said e-commerce parcels shipped rose 152% over the past year, and cargo through the DCC Way platform rose 14% in 2025.

The blended figure is lower than both district figures from 2025. That can mean retail pulls it down, new space has been counted, or occupancy eased. The definitions and dates differ, so we claim no trend.

The tenant the new offices are built for is a digital-commerce or technology firm, going by the zone's stated purpose; the release says the options suit companies of different sizes. The Hive's units start at 5 sqm, and small sellers who grow may need a desk near their stock. No tenant for the new buildings has been named. A full campus and a growing parcel count show demand for the campus, not that online sellers want offices; a seller may need a warehouse and a desk, not a floor.

Where does AED 1.8bn sit in DIEZ's portfolio?

It is much smaller than another large DIEZ commitment announced in 2026. In January the Dubai Media Office announced AED 12.8bn of expansion projects at Dubai Silicon Oasis, another DIEZ zone:

• District IO, AED 11bn, 25 buildings including 18 commercial ones, with a first phase from 2026 that includes office space and research laboratories.
• Block 14, a first phase of AED 1.8bn, a mixed-use community next to the planned Dubai Metro Blue Line station, with one commercial building, two residential buildings and a retail district, due in 2029.

Block 14 and CommerCity's phase two are separate projects that happen to carry the same AED 1.8bn figure. On our arithmetic, CommerCity's phase two is about 12% of the AED 14.6bn across these two announcements, which are our selection. We found no new office project at Dubai Airport Freezone, the third DIEZ zone, in the sources we read. Our piece on choosing a free zone or the mainland sets out how the authority runs all three.

What does AED 1.8bn buy?

This section is our own arithmetic, with the caveats that follow it.

Spread over the 91,000 sqm announced, AED 1.8bn works out at about AED 19,800 per sqm. Knight Frank put the cost of constructing commercial buildings in the UAE at AED 5,500 to 7,300 per sqm at the end of H1 2025. The CommerCity figure is 2.7 to 3.6 times that range. At the benchmark, building 91,000 sqm would cost about AED 500m to 665m, or 28% to 37% of the budget.

The gap does not show overpayment, for four reasons.

• The release calls the 91,000 sqm "new office space", yet its own parts include The Hive and the Social cluster, and it does not say whether the area is gross or leasable.
• The budget may cover land, roads, utilities, parking, fit-out for fitted and plug-and-play space, fees and contingency. The release does not say.
• The Knight Frank range is a UAE-wide benchmark for commercial buildings, not a Dubai office figure.
• MEED reports different figures for the scheme, 13 office buildings with 108,000 sq m leasable, which, if it all belongs to phase two, would lower the figure per square metre.

The facts that would settle it are the area basis, what the budget includes, and how the joint venture splits the cost. None is public.

What to watch

• A statement from DIEZ, Wasl or CommerCity on the campus's role after the airport moves.
• The date when DXB's cargo operations move to Al Maktoum International.
• Whether leasing opens before the Q1 2027 delivery, and which lease format fills early.
• Whether any tenant for the new buildings is named, and what business it is in.
• A breakdown of the nearly 96% occupancy between offices, warehouses and retail.
• The area basis of the 91,000 sqm and what the AED 1.8bn covers.

See the campus and hear the demand case at “Dubai Office Summit” in Dubai CommerCity.

Sources

• Gulf News: Dubai Media Office announced phase two, more than AED 1.8bn
• Entrepreneur Middle East: Six office buildings in Business cluster
• Entrepreneur Middle East: The Hive 5,600 sqm, 181 flexible units
• Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority: JV of DIEZ and Wasl Group
• Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority
• Central Bank of the UAE