Real Estate

Hadef & Partners is a leading law firm in the UAE's real estate sector, providing comprehensive legal services to clients across the entire property lifecycle. With a team of experienced real estate lawyers boasting over 45 years of combined UAE-specific expertise, the firm has advised on projects with a total value exceeding AED 100 billion.

Our client base includes regional and international developers, investors, financial institutions, UHNWIs and HNWIs, investment funds, brand operators, retailers, restaurateurs, hoteliers, and governmental and semi- governmental entities. The firm's Real Estate team offers strategic advice on project and corporate structuring, land and real estate acquisition, asset management, disposals, and leasing, catering to a wide range of industries, including tourism, leisure, utilities, energy, infrastructure, development, hospitality, and education.

Hadef & Partners has extensive experience in the establishment of mixed-use developments, industrial projects, major / mega projects, infrastructure, residential and commercial developments, and branded residences projects. The firm's close working relationships with governmental authorities and primary developers in the region enable its lawyers to provide valuable local knowledge and insights into existing and planned real estate laws, regulations, and market practices. This expertise allows Hadef & Partners to offer tailored solutions to clients, navigating the complex legal landscape of the UAE's real estate market.

In addition to its transactional work, Hadef & Partners has considerable experience in handling a broad range of real estate disputes. The firm's market-leading dispute resolution practice, which has rights of audience in the UAE courts and a dedicated team for arbitration proceedings in UAE arbitration centres, works alongside specialist rent committee advisors to provide comprehensive support to clients facing real estate disputes. Hadef & Partners' lawyers are well-versed in the practical impact of federal and local laws affecting real estate matters across all Emirates of the UAE, ensuring that clients receive informed and effective representation in dispute resolution matters.

• Advised Discovery Land Company, one of the world’s leading luxury golf real estate developers on its first project in the Middle East – an ultra-luxury villa mega development project with a world-class 18-hole golf course and related amenities.
• Advised Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), a public joint stock company operating five commercial airports in Abu Dhabi on their entire suite of template documentation for leasing, licensing and Musataha arrangements to reflect the current legal regime and prevailing market practice.
• Advised on the Jubail Island Master Community Project - one of the largest mixed-use developments in Abu Dhabi. Set to be developed across 400 hectares at an estimated cost of AED5 billion ($1.36 billion) as a low-density community, a designated Abu Dhabi investment zone comprising of a mix of serviced plots and high end and mid-range properties.
• Advised Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), an Abu Dhabi government entity with one of the largest land banks in Abu Dhabi on a range of corporate and real estate matters.
• Advised Gulf Islamic Investments (GII), a leading Shariah compliant investment group in the Middle East with a diversified investment portfolio; on a range of real estate matters including:
  • sale of a logistics facility in Dubai to a leading GCC asset management firm;
  • acquisition of multiple warehouse and logistics facilities in Dubai on a sale and leaseback basis;
  • sale of controlling shareholding of GII’s logistics platform comprising of 1.5 million square feet of warehouses in the UAE, including the warehouse for leading e-commerce player Noon, to Brookfield Asset Management.