Reviewed by Roksolana Pyrtko
TECOM Group PJSC, the landlord of Dubai Industrial City, reports an average warehouse rental rate of AED 32 per sq ft for the first half of 2026, up from AED 22 in 2021, at 98% occupancy. As of 9 October 2026 the H1 2026 presentation, the Annual Report 2025, the interim financial statements and the FAQ do not say whether that rate is the rent on a new lease, give a rate for a unit of stated size, or split this group-level line by district.
Warehouse rate and occupancy in the TECOM H1 2026 presentation
The investor presentation that TECOM Group PJSC issued with its H1 2026 results (release of 30 July 2026) gives an average rental rate and occupancy for three lines: warehouses at AED 32 per sq ft and 98%, industrial land at AED 3.70 per sq ft and 98%, and worker accommodation at AED 442 per bed per month and 98%. The table gives each line from 2021.
| Line | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | H1 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warehouses, AED per sq ft | 22 | 22 | 24 | 25 | 30 | 32 |
| Warehouses, occupancy | 81% | 86% | 91% | 98% | 98% | 98% |
| Industrial land, AED per sq ft | 2.80 | 2.80 | 2.90 | 3.02 | 3.30 | 3.70 |
| Industrial land, occupancy | 81% | 86% | 91% | 91% | 97% | 98% |
| Worker accommodation, AED per bed per month | 352 | 336 | 334 | 367 | 424 | 442 |
| Worker accommodation, occupancy | 77% | 84% | 86% | 97% | 98% | 98% |
The base for every row is pages 24 and 25 of that presentation, which print yearly values from 2021 and a half-year value for 2026; a later results release replaces the half-year values. The slides attribute the industrial revenue rise of AED 30 million, or 15%, to improved occupancy and warehouse expansion, and the land revenue rise of AED 65 million, or 22%, to leasing of the acquired plots and new leases at higher rates.
What the AED 32 average leaves undefined
The H1 2026 presentation of TECOM Group PJSC labels the figure “AVG. RENTAL RATE” and does not define it or print a period for it, so the AED 32 per sq ft for warehouses may average every lease in force or only new lettings. It is also a group-level line, not a district series: the interim financial statements define Industrial leasing as warehouses and staff accommodation, with no split by district.
The Annual Report 2025 adds valuation lines at 31 December 2025. For Industrial leasing it prints annual passing rent of AED 466 million, estimated rental value of AED 448 million and an equivalent yield of 9.2%; for Land leasing, AED 606 million, AED 881 million and 6.7%. The report defines estimated rental value as the market rent achievable on current leasing evidence for comparable assets, so for Industrial it sits 3.9% below passing rent and for Land 45.4% above it (author’s calculation).
The warehouse section of the same report also names the delivery of Phase 2 of the Dubai Science Park warehouses, and gives average citywide warehouse rents in Dubai of around AED 66 per sq ft for 2025, about 29% up on the year, citing Dubai Pulse and Property Monitor, beside TECOM’s own warehouse occupancy of 98%. The presentation puts the operator’s average for 2025 at AED 30. Neither document reconciles the two or says what the market figure counts.
Warehouse occupancy of 98% and the vacant area it implies
TECOM Group PJSC reports warehouse occupancy of 98% for H1 2026 on about 10 million sq ft of warehouse space, 83% of its 12 million sq ft of industrial gross leasable area. Read as anything from 97.5% to 98.5% on a rounded area, that leaves about 150,000 to 250,000 sq ft unlet (author’s calculation). The range is an order of magnitude from rounded published figures, not a listing of vacant units.
According to the Annual Report 2025, occupancy is total leased space divided by total leasable space, so each reading is an area ratio, not a count of tenants. The report prints 97.9% for Industrial leasing and 96.6% for Land leasing at 31 December 2025, against 98% and 98% for the two lines in the H1 2026 presentation.
Building leases run 1 to 5 years and land leases 20 to 50
The interim financial statements of TECOM Group PJSC to 30 June 2026 state, in Note 26(b), lease terms of between 1 and 5 years for building leases and between 20 and 50 years for land leases across the Group’s investment property. Weighted average remaining terms follow the same split: the Annual Report 2025 gives 1.4 years for Industrial leasing and 30.7 years for Land leasing at 31 December 2025.
According to the H1 2026 presentation, the weighted remaining term is 2.3 years for commercial and industrial leases combined and 30.72 years for land, and Industrial retention is 99%, against 96.0% for 2025 in the annual report. The report defines retention as the value of leases renewed in a period divided by the value of leases due for renewal, so the ratio shows how much lease value was renewed, not how many tenants stayed.
The 33 million sq ft land purchase and its leasing ledger
TECOM Group PJSC announced in its release of 28 August 2025 the purchase of 138 industrial plots of 33 million sq ft in Dubai Industrial City from Dubai Holding Asset Management for AED 1.6 billion. Page 21 of the H1 2026 presentation shows 8 million sq ft leased in 2025 and 10 million sq ft leased during the second quarter of 2026, with 8 million sq ft more under “Leasing Agreements being finalized”.
The three stages sum to 26 million sq ft, or 78.8% of the 33 million, which matches the slide’s “~79%” of land leased or with confirmed leads within 12 months (author’s calculation). The two leased stages total 18 million sq ft, or 54.5%, and about 7 million sq ft, or 21%, sits in none of the stages shown. The slide describes the handover as phased and the leasing as on track to finish ahead of a planned 36 months.
The denominators move. As the H1 2026 presentation shows, Land leasing gross leasable area rose from 183 million sq ft at year-end 2025 to 193 million sq ft at 30 June 2026, while occupancy went from 96.6% to 98%. The Annual Report 2025 says the acquisition completes in phases with a staggered handover, so a land occupancy line says how much of the area handed over is let, not how much of the land bought in 2025 is let.
Who licenses and permits a tenant in Dubai Industrial City
Dubai Industrial City is owned by TECOM Group PJSC through Dubai Industrial City LLC, a 100% subsidiary in the interim financial statements, and it is not a free zone. Its FAQ names the Department of Economic Development as the authority for business registration and licensing and the Dubai Development Authority for fit-out and building permits. Licences and permits run for one year and renew annually.
That department’s functions passed to the Department of Economy and Tourism under Article 15 of Law No. (20) of 2021, and Law No. (6) of 2023 created the Dubai Business Registration and Licensing Corporation, which regulates the licensing of establishments under its Article 6(4). Note 1 to the Annual Report 2025 records TECOM’s own trade licence as issued by the Department of Economy and Tourism, while the FAQ still names the predecessor; none of the operator documents cited says which authority is on a district licence as of 9 October 2026.
The FAQ refers visa quotas to the licensing authority, and the operator’s axs portal lists leasing and licensing to NOCs and permits among its services. The FAQ prints size bands: warehouses from 5,132 to 11,250 sq ft, and industrial land plots from 62,000 sq ft to above 5 million sq ft.
The rent on a new warehouse lease, which no document states
As of 9 October 2026 none of the TECOM and Dubai Industrial City documents cited here states the rent on a newly signed warehouse lease of a given size. The nearest figures are an undefined average of AED 32 per sq ft for warehouses in H1 2026 and valuation lines in total AED. A figure supplied to fill that gap would be false precision, so the gap is left open here.
Three disclosures would settle it: a rate by unit-size band, a split of the average between new lettings and renewals, and a warehouse series for the district apart from other TECOM sites. As of 9 October 2026 none appears in the H1 2026 presentation, the Annual Report 2025, the interim financial statements or the FAQ, which describes pricing only as “designed to be competitive and in alignment with prevailing market rates”. Until one does, the readings of AED 30 for 2025 and AED 32 for H1 2026 describe an average the operator does not define, and what a specific unit commands is set in the lease. Whether the operator will state any of the three, and in which document, remains the open question.
This material was reviewed by Roksolana Pyrtko, who is the CEO of the Lviv shopping and entertainment centers “Roksolana” and “Spartak”, an attorney, and a specialist in commercial real estate analytics and development.
This material is informational in nature and does not constitute legal, tax or financial advice.