Dubai Holding Awards Its Largest Contract Ever: AED 5 Billion to CSCEC Middle East for a Circular SOM-Designed Headquarters Opening in 2029 and 754 Jumeirah Residences Emirates Towers Due in 2030

2026-09-09

On Wednesday 9 September 2026 Dubai Holding signed an AED 5 billion (USD 1.36 billion) construction contract with China State Construction Engineering Corporation Middle East (CSCEC ME). The group calls it the single largest building contract it has awarded since it was established in 2004. The money buys two projects on one site on Sheikh Zayed Road, next to Jumeirah Emirates Towers and the Museum of the Future: a new circular group headquarters designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), scheduled to open in 2029, and Jumeirah Residences Emirates Towers, 754 branded homes in two towers of 243 and 232.5 metres developed by Meraas, with handover scheduled for 2030. The signing was witnessed by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Holding, and attended by Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, and Ou Boqian, Consul General of China in Dubai and the Northern Emirates. The contract lands in an office market where, according to CBRE, average rents in Dubai rose 13% year on year to the second quarter of 2026, prime rents rose 16% and occupancy stands at about 94%. Below are the verified facts of the deal, the two projects, the parties, the numbers behind Dubai’s office market and what the contract means for companies that build, lease or invest in the city.

The contract at a glance

What was announced and what was not

Three points deserve a careful reading before the numbers are repeated. First, the AED 5 billion is one contract covering two buildings on one site. Neither Dubai Holding nor CSCEC ME disclosed how the sum is split between the headquarters and the residential towers, so the cost of either project on its own is unknown. Second, the two dates are of different kinds: 2029 is the scheduled opening of the headquarters, 2030 is the scheduled handover of the residences to buyers. Third, the claim of the largest contract is Dubai Holding’s own statement about its own history. It does not refer to the Dubai market as a whole and it does not cover contracts awarded by the group’s subsidiaries in earlier years, such as the AED 1 billion (USD 272 million) Bluewaters Bay contract that Meraas awarded to the same contractor in January 2025.

The headquarters: a circular building by SOM

The headquarters has been designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the Chicago-founded practice behind the 828-metre Burj Khalifa. According to the press release, the building has a distinctive circular form and is organised around a central open-air atrium and a landscaped courtyard, with expansive terraces intended to encourage collaboration. Employee wellbeing, sustainability and technology are described as central to the design, and the group says the building aims to meet leading international sustainability and wellbeing standards while supporting a lower-carbon future. Its purpose is organisational as much as architectural: the headquarters will bring the group’s businesses together in a single workplace. Dubai Holding today employs more than 45,000 people across 10 sectors and holds investments in more than 30 countries, so a single address for its corporate functions is a change of scale. Amit Kaushal, Group Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Holding, said the building sets a new benchmark for prime office space in Dubai. The announcement does not say whether any part of the building will be offered to third-party tenants, and it gives no floor area, height or number of floors.

Jumeirah Residences Emirates Towers: 754 branded homes

The residential half of the contract was launched by Meraas, a member of Dubai Holding Real Estate, on 9 June 2025. Jumeirah Residences Emirates Towers consists of 754 branded residences with one to four bedrooms in two towers of 243 and 232.5 metres designed by Singapore-based SCDA Architects. The towers stand on near-invisible stilts beneath a cantilevered canopy, with cascading waterfalls and a central tree at the arrival point. The homes are oriented towards the Museum of the Future, Downtown Dubai and the sea. Three sky terraces carry infinity-edge pools, landscaped lounges and open-air entertainment spaces. Amenities listed at launch include a fitness centre with dedicated studios, an executive co-working lounge, a private cinema, a resort-style family pool, padel courts, a children’s play zone and dining venues. Residents will receive Jumeirah hospitality services: 24-hour concierge, housekeeping, personal fitness coaching, wellness treatments, vehicle management, private chefs and event support. The project follows Jumeirah Residences Marsa Al Arab as the second collaboration between Meraas and Jumeirah in branded residences. Prices and the status of sales were not included in the launch release or in the contract announcement, and handover is scheduled for 2030.

The address: Emirates Towers and the Museum of the Future

The site sits in the corridor of Sheikh Zayed Road that runs between the Dubai World Trade Centre and DIFC, with direct access to Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road. Its neighbours explain why Dubai Holding calls it one of the most sought-after commercial locations in the city. Jumeirah Emirates Towers, developed by Dubai Holding, opened on 15 April 2000 after a design competition in which Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid asked for twin towers at least twice the height of the 149-metre Dubai World Trade Centre. The complex, designed by architect Hazel Wong, consists of a 350-metre office tower and a 305-metre hotel tower connected by The Boulevard podium, and it is the only hotel in Dubai with its own metro station, according to The National. Since November 2023 the towers appear on the reverse of the AED 500 banknote. Next door stands the Museum of the Future, the 77-metre torus covered in Arabic calligraphy that opened on 22 February 2022. Both buildings host Dubai Future Week on 18-21 November 2026. On the other side of the road lies DIFC, where financial firms continue to open offices: Mirae Asset opened a DIFC office under a DFSA Category 3C licence in September 2026.

Who is who: Dubai Holding and CSCEC Middle East

Dubai Holding was established in 2004 and is chaired by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. According to its own boilerplate, the group manages assets worth more than AED 500 billion (USD 136 billion) across 10 sectors, including real estate, hospitality, entertainment, retail, media and investments. Its first Impact Report, published on 30 July 2026, put the group’s direct contribution at 13.5% of Dubai’s GDP in 2025, with economic activity equivalent to about 30% of GDP supported through its wider ecosystem. The real estate arm, Dubai Holding Real Estate, brings together Meraas, Nakheel, Dubai Properties and Meydan after Meraas joined the group in 2020 and Nakheel and Meydan were integrated in 2024. Recent capital-markets milestones include the TECOM Group IPO on the Dubai Financial Market, which raised about AED 1.7 billion, the listing of Dubai Residential REIT with more than 35,000 homes in more than 20 communities, and the increase of the group’s stake in Emaar Properties to 29.73% in 2026, which made Dubai Holding the developer’s largest shareholder. The group’s hospitality brand Jumeirah runs the hotel in Emirates Towers and lends its name and service standards to the new residences.

CSCEC Middle East is the Dubai-based operating company of China State Construction Engineering Corporation, which is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and ranked 13th on the Fortune Global 500 in 2023. The regional company began work in the UAE in 2003 with the Garden Homes villas on Palm Jumeirah, completed its formation in Dubai on 26 March 2005 and has run the parent’s Middle East headquarters from Dubai since 2012. By its own count it has delivered more than 110 large-scale projects in six Gulf countries, including more than 3,300 villas, more than 16,000 apartments, nine five-star hotels, three medical facilities, more than 600 kilometres of roads and railways and 105 bridges. The company says it provides more than 10,000 jobs a year in the region and buys more than 90% of its supply chain locally. For Dubai Holding it is a repeat contractor: in January 2025 Meraas awarded CSCEC an AED 1 billion contract for Bluewaters Bay, two towers with 678 apartments on a shared podium, due in the fourth quarter of 2027. Tian Sanchuan, Chairman of CSCEC ME, said at the signing that the award reflects the mutual trust between the two organisations and the company’s continued commitment to Dubai.

Why a headquarters matters now: Dubai’s office market in numbers

A corporate headquarters is a decision about office space, and Dubai’s office market in 2026 is defined by a shortage of high-quality stock. The table combines the second-quarter 2026 findings of CBRE and Savills, the two most recent published reviews.

Two readings follow from the table. The 2029 headquarters will not add leasable stock to this market unless Dubai Holding decides to let part of it, which the announcement does not say. And the space the group’s businesses vacate when they move under one roof has not been identified, so its effect on availability in the districts they leave is unknown. What the figures do show is the context in which a group with AED 500 billion of assets chose to build rather than lease: a market with 94% occupancy where new Grade A buildings are largely committed before completion.

The wider pipeline in 2026

The contract is the largest in a run of construction awards by Dubai Holding companies this year. On 8 September 2026 Meraas awarded an AED 590 million main contract for City Walk Crestlane Phase 3, 394 apartments in four buildings due in the third quarter of 2028. Bluewaters Bay, the AED 1 billion CSCEC contract of January 2025, is due in the fourth quarter of 2027. Across the emirate, Dubai completed 104 projects worth AED 111 billion in the first half of 2026, up from 75 projects worth AED 73 billion a year earlier. The residential market that will receive the 754 homes in 2030 has cooled from its 2025 pace: CBRE counted fewer than 37,000 residential sales in Dubai in the second quarter of 2026, down 29% year on year, with total value of AED 88 billion against nearly AED 154 billion a year earlier, sales prices still 1.9% higher year on year and average rents 2.6% lower. Dubai Holding’s own weight in the economy is described in our review of Dubai after 20 years of The Executive Council, where the emirate’s GDP is put at AED 937 billion.

What the contract means for business in the UAE

1. Subcontractors and suppliers. AED 5 billion of building work will be procured through CSCEC ME over roughly four years, and the contractor states that more than 90% of its supply chain is local. Companies in facades, MEP, fit-out, building materials, landscaping, lifts and smart-building systems that want a place on the vendor list need a UAE legal entity with the relevant licensed activities, a corporate bank account able to receive payments from a mainland contractor, and residence visas for the engineers and managers they station in Dubai. Company setup in the UAE takes days to weeks depending on the jurisdiction, while bank account opening typically takes longer and should start as soon as the licence is issued.
2. Office occupiers. With occupancy at about 94% and new Grade A towers pre-leased before completion, a company planning to open or expand a Dubai office in 2027-2029 should treat the search as a lead-time problem. Savills advises early leasing strategies for premium space, and the numbers above show why: the largest new landmark on Sheikh Zayed Road is being built for one occupier, not for the market.
3. Property buyers. The 754 residences will be handed over in 2030 at the edge of DIFC, in a segment where the buyer pays for a hotel brand’s service standards as well as the address. A purchase of ready or off-plan property worth AED 2 million or more is one of the routes to a 10-year residence permit described in our Golden Visa UAE guide, and a corporate or personal UAE bank account is needed to pay instalments and service charges in dirhams.
4. Chinese and other foreign companies. The presence of the Consul General of China at the signing, and 23 years of CSCEC work in the UAE, illustrate a route that many foreign contractors and manufacturers follow: a UAE subsidiary, local hiring under work visas and residency, and local procurement. The same mainland and free zone structures are available to companies from any country.

Checklist: before you bid, lease or buy

• Confirm which entity is the counterparty in your contract: Dubai Holding, Meraas, Jumeirah or CSCEC ME are separate legal persons with separate procurement rules.
• Match the activities on your trade licence to the work you will invoice; contracting and consulting activities differ in approvals and in bank compliance questions.
• Open the corporate bank account before the first purchase order, and prepare the contract, licence and shareholder documents the bank will ask for.
• Budget for staff visas and Emirates ID at the start of the project rather than at mobilisation.
• For office leases signed for 2027-2029, agree the rent path and renewal terms now; the RERA rental index applies to renewals, not to the first term.
• For residences, ask the developer for the payment plan, the service charge estimate and the branded-residence agreement with Jumeirah, none of which are in the public announcements.
• Keep the two dates apart in your planning: 2029 for the headquarters, 2030 for handover of the homes.
• Treat undisclosed figures as undisclosed: the AED 5 billion split, the building’s floor area and the home prices have not been published.

How Atlant Capital can help

Atlant Capital registers companies on the mainland and in the free zones of the UAE for contractors, suppliers, consultants and investors, prepares the corporate documents that developers and main contractors request during vendor onboarding, and arranges residence and work visas for owners, partners and employees. We open corporate and personal accounts in UAE banks for receiving contract payments and paying rent, instalments and service charges in dirhams, and we structure property purchases from AED 2 million towards the Golden Visa. If your business plans to work on Dubai’s construction pipeline or to take office space on Sheikh Zayed Road, we can map the licences, accounts and visas you will need before the first contract is signed.

Conclusion

The AED 5 billion contract of 9 September 2026 is a statement of intent from Dubai’s largest state-owned group about the corridor between the World Trade Centre and DIFC. It gives Dubai Holding a single headquarters in 2029, gives Sheikh Zayed Road two new residential towers of 243 and 232.5 metres in 2030, and gives CSCEC Middle East its largest award from the group after 23 years in the emirate. For businesses, the practical facts are the dates, the counterparties and the state of the office market they describe, not the superlatives. The figures that would matter most to a bidder or a buyer, the split of the contract, the building’s size and the prices of the homes, remain unpublished, and any decision should wait for them.

FAQ

What did Dubai Holding sign on 9 September 2026?

Dubai Holding signed an AED 5 billion (USD 1.36 billion) construction contract with China State Construction Engineering Corporation Middle East for two buildings on one site on Sheikh Zayed Road: a new circular group headquarters designed by SOM and the two towers of Jumeirah Residences Emirates Towers with 754 branded homes. The group says it is the single largest building contract it has awarded since its foundation in 2004. The signing was witnessed by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Holding.

When will the Dubai Holding headquarters open and when will the residences be handed over?

The headquarters is scheduled to open in 2029. Handover of Jumeirah Residences Emirates Towers to buyers is scheduled for 2030. The announcement does not give a start date for construction, the floor area or height of the headquarters, or the split of the AED 5 billion between the two projects.

What is Jumeirah Residences Emirates Towers?

It is a branded residential development by Meraas, launched on 9 June 2025, with 754 homes of one to four bedrooms in two towers of 243 and 232.5 metres designed by SCDA Architects. Residents receive Jumeirah hospitality services such as 24-hour concierge, housekeeping and private chefs, and the site sits next to Jumeirah Emirates Towers, the Museum of the Future and DIFC. Prices have not been published in the official releases.

Who is CSCEC Middle East?

CSCEC Middle East is the Dubai-based arm of China State Construction Engineering Corporation, a Shanghai-listed group ranked 13th on the Fortune Global 500 in 2023. It has worked in the UAE since 2003, starting with the Garden Homes villas on Palm Jumeirah, and reports more than 110 large-scale projects in six Gulf countries, including more than 16,000 apartments and nine five-star hotels. In January 2025 Meraas awarded it an AED 1 billion contract for Bluewaters Bay, due in the fourth quarter of 2027.