Rockefeller Tower vs Berkeley Tower
Which Sheikh Zayed Road Office Should You Buy?
Two new Grade-A office towers have launched on Sheikh Zayed Road, both on the Business Bay side near Business Bay Metro Station. One is an 87-floor supertall by LMD with a 50/50 plan. The other is a G+60 tower by Ellington with a 70/30 plan. Here is how they compare on size, cash flow, developer and risk, using only the developers’ own figures.
The short version
Choose Christian A. Rockefeller Business Tower if you want to keep more cash in hand during construction, want a stated handover quarter (Q2 2031) and like the idea of a landmark supertall with pools, a padel court and a sky lounge. You accept a developer building its first office tower and first supertall, and a brand licence whose terms have not been published.
Choose Berkeley Tower by Ellington if you want a smaller, more boutique office building right next to Business Bay Metro Station, published ceiling heights of 3.8 to 4.1 m, and a developer with a design-led track record. You accept paying twice as much in the first year (40% against 20%) and a handover year that Ellington has not yet confirmed.
TruHauz sells both, so we have no reason to push you to one. The full facts for the LMD tower are in our Rockefeller Tower Dubai project brief, and the Ellington details are on the Berkeley Tower listing. This page puts them side by side.
Head to head
Developer figures, October 2026
Rockefeller Tower vs Berkeley Tower: the full comparison
Every figure comes from the developers’ factsheets and brochures. Where a developer has not published something, we say so rather than guess. On a phone, swipe the table sideways.
| Item | Christian A. Rockefeller Business Tower | Berkeley Tower |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | LMD (Landmark Sabbour Development), active in Dubai since 2011 | Ellington Properties, founded in 2014 |
| Location | Sheikh Zayed Road, Business Bay side, between Downtown and DIFC; 2-minute drive to Business Bay and Dubai Mall metro stations | Sheikh Zayed Road, Business Bay, next to Business Bay Metro Station |
| Height | 87 floors, 372 m (1,220 ft) | Ground + 60 floors |
| Offices | 332 offices on levels 15–85 (338 units on the DLD register) | 109 offices in 6 configurations |
| Size range | 1,077 sq ft to about 13,400 sq ft (full floors) | 1,132 sq ft to a 21,873 sq ft duplex (levels 54–55) |
| Half and full floors | Half floors 5,887–7,555 sq ft; full floors 11,541–13,400 sq ft on levels 71–80 | Full floors 12,182–12,507 sq ft on levels 36–52, plus the duplex |
| Ceiling height | Not stated in the factsheet | 3.8 m to 4.1 m |
| Size of building | 1.77M sq ft built-up area | 579,681 sq ft sellable office area (a different measure) |
| Lifts | 23 lifts, 39 cabins, including 16 double-decker high-speed lifts | 12 double-deck passenger lifts, 1 service lift, 1 escalator, 2 parking lifts |
| Parking | 1,100+ spaces on 4 basements and 12 podium levels | 6 basement floors, ground and 12 automated parking bays |
| Amenities | Five amenity levels: spa, sauna, ice room, padel court, gym, two infinity pools, sky lounge, ballroom, co-working and podcast rooms | Sky terraces, co-working hub with focus pods, rest and recharge room, pilates, fitness and spinning studios, games room, music-listening rooms |
| Payment plan | Two 50/50 plans: 50% during construction, 50% on handover | 70/30: 70% during construction, 30% on completion |
| Paid in first 12 months | 20% on either plan | 40% (20% at booking + four 5% instalments) |
| Handover | Q2 2031 (developer factsheet) | 2031 expected, date not confirmed |
| Service charge | AED 18/sq ft a year (estimate) | Not published |
| Brand | Named after Christian A. Rockefeller; licence terms not published | Ellington’s own brand |
| Prices | Not published; on request by unit | Not published; released at launch |
| Ownership | Freehold, all nationalities | Freehold, all nationalities |
Sources: LMD factsheet and floor-plan brochure (October 2026); Ellington Berkeley Tower brochure. All figures are indicative until confirmed in the Sales and Purchase Agreement.
LMD vs Ellington: who is building them
On an off-plan office, the developer matters more than the render. You are paying for a building that will not exist for about five years.
LMD is part of Landmark Sabbour Development, which builds in the UAE, Egypt, Spain and Greece. In Dubai it has delivered Continental Tower and Marina Living in Dubai Marina (Marina Living handed over in August 2026) and the Rukan towers in Dubailand. One developer-data provider counts about 1,258 units delivered across five completed projects. The same provider rates LMD 46% on time within a 90-day grace period, but that is based on only seven schedule checks, so read it as a prompt to ask questions, not as a verdict. The bigger point is scale: Rockefeller Tower is LMD’s first office tower and its first supertall, a step up from its 20 to 40 storey residential buildings. Ask who the main contractor and consultant are.
Ellington Properties was founded in 2014 and is known for design-led residential buildings such as Belgrove Residences, Hillmont and The Berkeley Residences in Dubai Hills. It moved into offices in 2025 with Eaton Square, an A-grade office building in MBR City. Berkeley Tower is its next office project. Its facade is designed to look gathered and pleated, like fabric, with landscaped terraces set into it.
Office sizes, ceilings and what is in the building
Small offices. The entry sizes are close: 1,077 to 1,307 sq ft “Core” suites at Rockefeller, and 1,132 to 1,389 sq ft offices at Berkeley, with up to eight per floor on levels 1 to 31. For an investor buying one unit to rent out, the difference in size is small. Price per sq ft, floor and view will matter more.
Large floors. Rockefeller has more choice in the middle: half floors of 5,887 to 7,555 sq ft, then ten full floors of 11,541 to about 13,400 sq ft. Berkeley has full floors of 12,182 to 12,507 sq ft and one 21,873 sq ft duplex across levels 54 and 55, the largest single unit in either tower. A company that wants its own two-floor headquarters has only one option here.
Ceilings and views. Ellington publishes 3.8 to 4.1 m ceilings, which is generous for offices. LMD’s factsheet does not state a ceiling height, so ask for it. LMD says every typical floor looks three ways: Sheikh Zayed Road and the sea, Business Bay, and Burj Khalifa. Ellington says upper floors look over the sea, Palm Jumeirah and Burj Al Arab.
Amenities. Rockefeller goes further: two amenity levels on floors 13 and 14 (spa, ice room, sauna, padel court, infinity pool, gym) and a top-floor level 87 with a sky lounge, ballroom, second pool and co-working rooms. Berkeley’s amenities are built around the working day: co-working, focus pods, a rest room, fitness studios and a games room. More amenities can help leasing, but they also feed into service charges, which is one reason to ask Ellington for its estimate.
50/50 vs 70/30: what you pay and when
This is the biggest practical difference between the two towers. Both ask for 4% DLD fee and 5% VAT on top of the price. What changes is how fast the price itself is paid.
Rockefeller standard plan: 10% on signing, 10% a month later, then six 5% instalments in months 15, 21, 27, 33, 39 and 45, and 50% on handover. Rockefeller incentivised plan: 20% on signing, the same six 5% instalments, and 50% on handover. Ask what incentive comes with the second plan when you reserve. LMD collects VAT with each instalment rather than upfront.
Berkeley 70/30 plan: 20% at booking, 5% at 90, 180, 240 and 360 days after reservation, then 5% at each of six construction milestones (20% to 70% complete), and 30% on completion. The milestone payments follow the build, so their timing depends on progress on site.
| Share of price paid | Rockefeller standard | Rockefeller incentivised | Berkeley 70/30 |
|---|---|---|---|
| At signing / booking | 10% | 20% | 20% |
| By month 12 | 20% | 20% | 40% |
| Before handover | 50% | 50% | 70% |
| On handover / completion | 50% | 50% | 30% |
Paying less upfront is not free. With Rockefeller you need a large sum at handover, half the price, and you either need the cash or a mortgage on a commercial unit at that point. With Berkeley you pay more early, but the final bill is smaller. If you want to test the LMD plan with your own price, use the Rockefeller Tower payment plan calculator.
Cash flow on a 1,100 sq ft office
This is not a price for either tower. Neither developer has published prices. To show the cash-flow gap, we use a hypothetical AED 3,000 per sq ft, chosen only because it makes the maths easy. A 1,100 sq ft office at that rate costs AED 3,300,000. If the real price is different, scale every figure: for every AED 1 million of price, Rockefeller asks for AED 200,000 in year one and Berkeley for AED 400,000.
| Hypothetical AED 3.3M office | Rockefeller (either plan) | Berkeley 70/30 |
|---|---|---|
| Price paid in first 12 months | AED 660,000 (20%) | AED 1,320,000 (40%) |
| Paid before handover | AED 1,650,000 (50%) | AED 2,310,000 (70%) |
| Due on handover / completion | AED 1,650,000 (50%) | AED 990,000 (30%) |
| DLD fee (4%) | AED 132,000 | AED 132,000 |
| VAT (5%) | AED 165,000, spread over instalments | AED 165,000, timing to confirm |
| Service charge after handover | About AED 19,800 a year (AED 18/sq ft estimate) | Not published |
On these example numbers, Rockefeller leaves you with AED 660,000 more in hand after the first year, and still AED 660,000 more by the time construction ends. Berkeley leaves you with AED 660,000 less to find at handover. Which suits you depends on what that money would earn in the meantime, and on whether you will have the handover sum ready in 2031.
Real prices will differ between the towers and between floors and views, so compare the year-one cash and the handover sum again when you have both price lists.
Want to run this with real prices?
We will send both price lists as soon as they are issued and work out the cash flow for the exact unit you like.
Handover, service charges and the Rockefeller name
Handover. LMD’s factsheet states Q2 2031. Earlier third-party listings had quoted 2028 to 2030, and the developer’s own date replaces those. Ellington expects Berkeley Tower to complete in 2031 but has not given a date. In both cases the date that counts is in your Sales and Purchase Agreement, together with the grace period and what happens if the build runs late. A taller, larger build generally has more that can slip, but neither buyer will receive rent before 2031.
Service charges. LMD estimates AED 18 per sq ft a year. Ellington has not published a figure. Ask for it before you commit, because the gap between rent and service charge is what drives your net yield.
The Rockefeller name. The tower is named after Christian A. Rockefeller, a sixth-generation member of the family, who has licensed the name to branded real estate since 2020. The terms of the brand agreement are not published, and the tower is not linked to Rockefeller Group or Rockefeller Center. A brand can help a building stand out, but do not pay a premium for it without the terms in writing. Our Rockefeller Tower Dubai brief covers the background in more detail.
The market by 2031. JLL put Dubai office vacancy at 6.1% in Q2 2026, with Grade-A rents up 26.2% year on year. Savills recorded flat average rents in the same quarter, the first pause since 2021. Both towers will hand over into whatever the market looks like then, alongside other new Grade-A space. Our guide to offices for sale on Sheikh Zayed Road shows what else is coming, and the Business Bay handovers guide covers nearer-term options.
Choose Rockefeller if… Choose Berkeley if…
Choose Rockefeller Tower if you…
- Want to pay only 20% of the price in the first year and 50% before handover
- Will have half the price ready (cash or finance) in 2031
- Want a half or full floor: there are half floors of 5,887–7,555 sq ft and ten full floors on levels 71–80
- Value a stated handover quarter and a published service charge estimate
- Want hotel-style amenities: pools, padel, spa and a level 87 sky lounge
- Like having more units to choose from (332), across many floors and views
Choose Berkeley Tower if you…
- Want to be right next to Business Bay Metro Station
- Prefer a smaller building with 109 offices and fewer neighbours
- Want published high ceilings of 3.8–4.1 m
- Need a two-floor headquarters: the 21,873 sq ft duplex is unique
- Would rather pay more during the build and owe only 30% at completion
- Prefer a developer with a longer design-led record and no brand licence to price in
Details: Berkeley Tower by Ellington listing
Buying checklist for either tower
Whichever tower you lean towards, work through these points before you pay a booking amount. Our guide to buying office space in Dubai and our commercial property guide explain the costs and VAT in more depth.
- Get both price lists and compare price per sq ft for the same size, floor band and view.
- Work out year-one cash and the handover sum for your exact unit, including 4% DLD and 5% VAT.
- Check the project on the DLD register (Dubai REST app) and confirm the developer company named there.
- Pay only into the project escrow account named in your SPA, never into a personal or broker account.
- Read the SPA for the completion date, grace period, delay remedies and the exact office area.
- Ask for the service charge estimate (Berkeley) and ceiling height (Rockefeller) in writing.
- Ask who the main contractor and consultant are, especially for a first supertall.
- For Rockefeller, ask for the brand terms: who the Rockefeller-side party is, how long the licence runs and what it commits the building to.
- Plan your exit or use: no rent before 2031, so decide whether you will lease the office, occupy it or sell before handover.
Rockefeller Tower vs Berkeley Tower: questions buyers ask
Short answers on price, payment, handover and the differences between the two towers.
Get both price lists
TruHauz is a RERA-registered brokerage and sells offices in both towers. Message us and we will send you the Rockefeller Tower and Berkeley Tower price lists and floor plans as soon as they are issued, then compare the units side by side with you. There is no cost and no commitment. For the LMD tower in full, see our Rockefeller Tower Dubai brief.
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