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Akala's twin towers rising beside DIFC, seen across the Zabeel skyline.
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Akala Hotels and Residences by Arada — Branded Residences beside DIFC

ARADA Zabeel Second, Dubai
Starting from
AED 3.8M
Payment plan
40/60
Handover
End of 2029
Golden Visa
Every home

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Key facts

Verified by NARVA · 1 September 2026

Every home here qualifies for the 10-year UAE Golden Visa. How it works

Homes
1 to 6 bedroom branded residences
Prices
AED 3,800,000 – 88,000,000
Sizes
1,036 – 14,628 sq ft
Payment plan
40 / 60 — 10% down
Handover
End of 2029
The building
Twin towers, 220 metres · 534 residences
In the podium
Medical clinic, spa and gym
DIFC Gate Avenue
3 minutes
Certification
LEED Gold · WELL Silver precertification
Title
Freehold, all nationalities

Project Gallery

The podium pool wrapping the base of the Akala towers.
The podium deck at Akala, looking across to the Burj Khalifa and the Downtown skyline.
The relaxation lounge at Akala Spa, with heated loungers set around an olive tree.
Living and dining space in a residence at Akala, opening to the skyline.
A bedroom at Akala facing the Burj Khalifa through full-height glass.
A stone bathroom vanity in a residence at Akala.
Living room and kitchen in a residence at Akala.

Akala Hotels and Residences Prices

Starting from AED 3.8M
Unit TypeBedsBUAPrice
1 bedroom 1BR 1,036 sq ft AED 3.8M – 4.9M
2 bedroom 2BR 1,723 – 1,951 sq ft AED 6.0M – 8.7M
3 bedroom 3BR 2,587 – 3,654 sq ft AED 12.45M – 17.39M
4 bedroom 4BR 3,648 – 4,698 sq ft AED 18.38M – 23.84M
5 bedroom 5BR 6,257 sq ft AED 34.55M
6 bedroom 6BR 14,628 sq ft AED 88.0M

BUA is built-up area. Prices are the developer's direct rates and depend on availability.

Akala Hotels and Residences Payment Plan — 40/60

10%
On booking
10%
Within 180 days
5%
Within 360 days
5%
Within 540 days
5%
Within 720 days
5%
Within 900 days
60%
On completionanticipated End of 2029

On booking: DLD 4% and AED 1,020 registration fall at the same time

Forty per cent falls due before handover and sixty on completion. The construction run ends at 900 days from reservation, and the instalments are dated from your own booking rather than from a build stage, so the calendar shifts with when you reserve.

Payments go into the project escrow account and your purchase registers through Oqood at booking. Fees on top of the price are 4% to the Dubai Land Department plus AED 1,000 registration and AED 20 in knowledge and innovation charges. At handover there is AED 250 for the title deed and AED 100 to AED 250 for the map. Arada pays us, so you pay no commission. See what you pay in fees in Dubai and Abu Dhabi compared.

Payment calculator

Pick a unit type to see the full instalment schedule, including government registration and booking fees.

Layouts & Specifications

The building sorts itself by size, and the wellness specification runs into the walls of every home.

How the tower stacks

One and two bedrooms hold the lower floors. Three bedrooms begin around the twentieth, four bedrooms start in the forties, and the five bedroom sits near the top.

The top of the tower holds two six-bedroom homes. One takes a whole floor. Above it sits a two-storey residence with its own roof terrace, a pool and jacuzzi, an art gallery and a summer greenhouse.

Wellness inside the home

Acoustic zoning and soundproofing, so the city stops at the glass. Climate control room by room. Circadian lighting that shifts through the day to match the body rather than fight it.

Air and water purified throughout, glass that blocks UV and shields against EMF, and showers infused with Vitamin C, which neutralises chlorine and softens the water.

The larger homes

The five bedroom carries its own massage room. The six bedroom below the roof opens to a terrace facing the Burj Khalifa, with a dressing room the length of a corridor.

Every home is served by the hotel in the second tower, whatever its size.

Turnkey, if you want it

Homes can be taken furnished to the same standard: organic mattresses, bamboo linen, a massage table, and a sit-stand desk if you work from home.

Sizes are Arada's published totals, which include the balcony.

About This Project

The Akala towers in the skyline between DIFC and Downtown Dubai.

Arada is building twin towers beside DIFC, and between them a podium holding a medical clinic, a spa and a gym. Most towers add a gym and call it wellness. Here the wellness floors came first and the homes were placed around them.

220m
Twin towers
10%
Down at booking
3 min
To DIFC Gate Avenue
2029
Handover

Akala takes its name from the Sanskrit for beyond time. The two towers hold 534 residences in all, the hotel sits in the second one and serves both, and Akala is Arada's own brand — so one company answers for the building and for the service inside it.

Everwell

A medical clinic across a full floor. Operating theatres, IV therapy, physiotherapy, consultation lounges and a private recovery zone, in a setting closer to a spa than a hospital. Everwell holds DHA approval to carry out surgical work in the building, and it is the only licensed operator of MuseCell stem cell therapy in the Middle East. Longevity work runs alongside it, and an app reads from your own Whoop or Oura.

The spa

A thermal circuit runs the length of it: two marine-infused thalassotherapy pools, a eucalyptus steam room, an infrared salt room, a Finnish sauna, a cold plunge and an ice room. The treatments run from lymphatic drainage and hot stone to acupuncture and red light. The VIP suites carry their own jacuzzis and heated massage tables, so a couple can take the day alone.

Formative and the studios

Arada is the country's biggest large-scale gym operator, and Formative is what it built for itself: strength and cardio, open floor for functional work, private coaching pods and an indoor lap pool, with studios for spin, HIIT, boxing and TRX. Beside them a Reformer studio, yoga in every form, a meditation room, a float room, and a recovery zone with a cryotherapy chamber, an infrared sauna pod, a red light wall and a hyperbaric chamber.

Residents keep their own floor of it. A wellness lounge with its own gym and separate male and female suites, each with steam, sauna and cold plunge. An elevated pool deck with a temperature-controlled pool and a jacuzzi. A club with a lounge, a private cinema and an open-air amphitheatre.

From AED 3.8M

One to six bedroom branded residences on a 40/60 plan with ten per cent down. Registration is 4% of the price plus Oqood, and ownership is freehold to all nationalities. We sell them at zero commission.

Built to a standard, and certified to it

LEED Gold and WELL Silver precertification — the sustainability rating and the health rating, side by side.

The rest of Arada

Its Downtown Dubai tower is Inaura, and its Sharjah forest community is Masaar 3.

Why this project

A medical clinic under the home
Everwell spans a full clinical floor — operating theatres, IV therapy, physiotherapy and a private recovery zone. It holds DHA approval to carry out surgical work in the building, and it is the only licensed operator of MuseCell stem cell therapy in the Middle East.
The wellness floors came first
The clinic, the spa and the gym occupy the podium between the two towers, and the homes were arranged around them. That is the whole idea, and it decides who this building is for.
Hotel service at your own door
The hotel sits in the second tower and serves both. Housekeeping and deep cleaning, concierge, valet and a doorman around the clock, grocery stocking before you land, a private chef, in-home massage.
Three minutes to the financial district
Zabeel Second, between DIFC and Downtown Dubai. Elite wellness has meant a retreat somewhere remote; this puts it under a home in the middle of the city.
The specification runs into the walls
Acoustic zoning, climate control room by room, circadian lighting, air and water purified throughout, glass that blocks UV and shields against EMF, and showers infused with Vitamin C.
Arada builds it and Arada runs it
Akala is Arada's own brand, so one company answers for the building and for the service inside it. Arada is also the country's biggest large-scale gym operator, which is where Formative comes from.

Akala Hotels and Residences Location

Akala sits in Zabeel Second, between DIFC and Downtown Dubai. DIFC Gate Avenue and the Dubai Mall are three minutes each, and the airport is fifteen. The district itself, and the second district being built beside it, are set out in our guide to DIFC. Inside the free zone itself, on Gate Avenue, stands Four Seasons Private Residences Dubai at DIFC. We put the two head to head — prices, the cash each plan asks before the keys, and who each one suits.

That address is the argument. Elite wellness has traditionally meant a retreat somewhere remote — a coast, a desert, a mountain — which makes it something you visit once a year. Putting the clinic, the spa and the studios under a home in the financial district means using them does not cost a weekend.

Every off-plan project we cover in the emirate sits on our Dubai hub.

DIFC Gate Avenue 3 minutes
The Dubai Mall 3 minutes
Dubai International Airport 15 minutes
Google Maps loads on demand to keep this page fast.

Life at Akala Hotels and Residences

The terrace of the six bedroom at Akala, facing the Burj Khalifa.
The cycle studio at Formative, the gym at Akala.
Red light therapy in the recovery rooms at Akala.
Swimming in the rooftop pool at Akala at dusk, over the Downtown skyline.
The Akala podium seen from above, with the pool ring around it.

About ARADA

Arada launched in 2017 and is headquartered in the UAE. Its scope runs past property development into retail, education, healthcare, wellness, fitness and hospitality, which is what makes a building like this one possible.

10,000+
Homes delivered since 2017
AED 17.3B
Sold in 2025
AED 130B
Pipeline
Gold
LEED, with WELL Silver

Aljada, Masaar and Nasma Residences in Sharjah are the communities behind that delivery number. They are large master plans rather than single towers, which is a different discipline and a harder one to run at scale.

Arada is also the country's biggest large-scale gym operator, behind FitnGlam, FITCODE, Wellfit and Platform Studios. Formative at Akala is what that operation built for itself, and it is the reason the gym here is not a room with equipment in it.

In Dubai the company is also building Jouri Hills at Jumeirah Golf Estates, Armani Beach Residences on Palm Jumeirah and W Residences at Dubai Harbour. Its Downtown tower is Inaura and its Sharjah forest community is Masaar 3.

Akala Hotels and Residences — Frequently Asked Questions

What is the cheapest home at Akala?

AED 3,800,000, for a one bedroom of 1,036 sq ft.

What is the largest?

A six bedroom of 14,628 sq ft at AED 88,000,000, taking a whole floor.

What sizes are available?

From 1,036 sq ft to 14,628 sq ft, across one to six bedrooms. Arada publishes total areas, which include the balcony.

How many homes are there?

534 branded residences, across the two towers.

What is the payment plan?

Forty / sixty. Ten per cent books the home, thirty per cent runs across construction to 900 days from reservation, and 60% falls on completion.

When does it hand over?

End of 2029.

What do I pay on top of the price?

Four per cent of the price to the Dubai Land Department plus AED 1,000 registration and AED 20 in knowledge and innovation charges. No agency commission — Arada pays us.

Where is Akala?

Zabeel Second, between DIFC and Downtown Dubai. DIFC Gate Avenue and the Dubai Mall are three minutes each, and Dubai International Airport is fifteen.

Who runs the building?

Arada. Akala is Arada's own brand and the hotel sits in the second tower, so one company answers for the building and for the service inside it.

What is Everwell?

The medical wellness clinic inside the building, across a full clinical floor. It holds DHA approval to carry out surgical work and is the only licensed operator of MuseCell stem cell therapy in the Middle East.

What is in the spa?

A thermal circuit with two thalassotherapy pools, a eucalyptus steam room, an infrared salt room, a Finnish sauna, a cold plunge and an ice room. Treatment rooms, and VIP suites with their own jacuzzis and heated massage tables.

What is Formative?

The gym at Akala, built by Arada, the country's biggest large-scale gym operator. Strength and cardio, open floor for functional work, private coaching pods, an indoor lap pool, and studios for spin, HIIT, boxing and TRX.

What do residents get that hotel guests do not?

Their own floor of the wellness: a lounge with its own gym, separate male and female suites with steam, sauna and cold plunge, an elevated pool deck, and a club with a lounge, a private cinema and an open-air amphitheatre.

What wellness features are in the home itself?

Acoustic zoning, climate control room by room, circadian lighting, air and water purification throughout, glass that blocks UV and shields against EMF, and showers infused with Vitamin C.

Can I buy it furnished?

Yes. A turnkey package is offered, furnished to the same standard, with organic mattresses, bamboo linen, a massage table and a sit-stand desk.

Is it freehold?

Yes, for all nationalities.

Does it qualify for the Golden Visa?

Yes, at AED 2,000,000 of property value. The rule is federal and a mortgage is allowed.

Can I get a mortgage?

Up to 50% of the price. That cap applies to every off-plan home in the UAE.

Can I sell before handover?

Yes, once you have paid Arada's threshold and hold a no-objection certificate.

Do I pay you a commission?

No. Arada pays us.

Still deciding? A private-client advisor can walk you through availability, payment plans, and whether this project fits your brief.

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