ZāZEN Acacia Residences

About ZāZEN Acacia Residences

Dubai South is the airport-led district around Al Maktoum International and Expo City, and it is where Dubai has been pointing its growth for a decade. ZāZEN Acacia Residences is a small building in the residential district of it: 48 apartments across ground plus four floors and a roof terrace, on a plot of 28,666 sq ft, with a construction area of 80,399 sq ft.

ZāZEN Properties is the developer, founded in Dubai in 2018 by Udit Amin and Madhav Dhar, and this is its first project outside Al Furjan and Jumeirah Village Triangle. The proposition is deliberately modest: one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, including study layouts, with fitted kitchens, cross-ventilated plans and a rooftop amenity deck rather than a tower’s worth of facilities.

What to weigh. Start with the developer’s record, because it is the strongest thing about the project. Three buildings have been delivered — ZāZEN One in JVT in February 2022, ZāZEN Gardens in Al Furjan in June 2024, and ZāZEN Ivy in Al Furjan in May 2026 — and the developer says each launch sold out in one to eight months. Gardens is described as Dubai’s first LEED Gold certified residential development, and Acacia follows the same sustainability-led brief. A track record of three completions is worth more than any render, and it is the reason this project can be judged differently from the dozens of Dubai South launches by first-time developers.

Second, the payment plan, because it is unusually generous and that generosity has a price. The sales partner quotes 30/70: 10% on booking, 20% through construction, and 70% at completion — so only 30% of the price leaves your account before the building is finished. For a buyer, that is close to the best structure in the market: most of the money is committed when the keys exist. For the developer, it means the project is financed by a small deposit base and construction debt, which is normal but worth understanding. Ask for the escrow details and the project registration before you treat the 70% as a fixed finish line.

Third, the location’s dependency. Everything about Dubai South rests on Al Maktoum International becoming the airport the masterplan promises, and that is a decade-long programme rather than a 2028 event. In the near term the district is served by the Expo City corridor and the E11, with a metro station planned rather than built. If the plan slips, rents in the residential district stay soft; if it holds, this is one of the few places in Dubai where entry prices are still under AED 1.5 million for a one-bedroom. Buy the plan on the assumption that the near term is quiet.

Fourth, supply. The sales partner’s own comparison puts 29 of 38 Dubai South projects completing in 2027 and 2028 — the same window as this building. At handover you will be one of many landlords in a district where the tenant pool is still forming, and small buildings with lower service charges and better layouts are the ones that let first. That is an argument for Acacia over the towers, and an argument for buying at the right price rather than the list price.

Compiled November 2026 from ZāZEN Properties’ own project page and company timeline, and from the published material of Vidabricks, the developer’s appointed exclusive sales partner, which discloses that it earns commission from the developer. ZāZEN publishes no price list and the listing portal carries no listing for this project: all prices are broker-quoted and labelled. Areas, unit counts and prices are typical or starting figures and are subject to change by release. Rental figures quoted by the developer are third-party estimates and are not repeated as a forecast. Details marked for confirmation should be checked before publication or purchase.

Homes, sizes and prices

The building has 48 apartments in four types, and the counts are unusually specific for a Dubai launch: 16 one-bedroom, 8 two-bedroom, 16 two-bedroom with study and 8 three-bedroom with study.

The price per square foot barely moves. Across all four types it sits between AED 1,426 and AED 1,479 — a spread of under 4%. That is a flat pricing structure by type rather than by view, which is common in a small building and means the three-bedroom is neither a bargain nor a penalty. Buy the layout you need; there is no pricing arbitrage between types.

Two other quotes in the market disagree with this table and are worth knowing about. Some brokers advertise a range of 670 to 1,780 sq ft and a starting price of AED 900,000; others list nothing at all. The AED 900,000 figure may be an older release or a smaller layout, but nobody has published the unit behind it. Treat the sales partner’s schedule as the current one and ask any other broker which unit number their number refers to.

Ask, too, for the floor plates. With 48 homes over four floors there are roughly twelve apartments per level, which means corner units and the two-bedroom frontages are materially better than the middle of the corridor, and the price list may not reflect that.

The developer, and what the rental numbers mean

ZāZEN Properties was founded in Dubai in 2018 by Udit Amin, chairman of ZāZEN Holdings and previously founder of Alembic Real Estate in India, and Madhav Dhar, the chief executive, who came from senior roles at established developers. The company has delivered ZāZEN One in Jumeirah Village Triangle in February 2022, ZāZEN Gardens in Al Furjan in June 2024 — marketed as Dubai’s first LEED Gold certified residential development — and ZāZEN Ivy in Al Furjan in May 2026. The Hub Residences in Al Furjan is under construction with completion around Q4 2027.

Acacia is its first building in Dubai South, which cuts both ways: an established team working an unfamiliar district, rather than a new team in a familiar one. The construction risk is lower than a debut developer; the district risk is new for them too.

On the rental numbers. The developer’s page quotes rents of AED 81 to 105 per square foot a year and a 7% to 10% yield, with an asterisk noting the data comes from DXB Interact and property listing sites. That asterisk is doing a lot of work. Those are market observations from other buildings, not a forecast for this one, and the yield depends entirely on the price you pay — at AED 1,080,000 for a 730 sq ft unit, a 7% gross yield needs about AED 75,600 a year in rent, or roughly AED 6,300 a month before service charges, agency fees and vacancy. Ask for three actual lets in comparable Dubai South buildings at the entry price you are being offered, not the district average.

On the Golden Visa. Units at or above AED 2 million can qualify for the ten-year visa under current rules, and the three-bedroom with study starts at AED 2.36 million, so it falls inside the threshold. The rules for off-plan property are specific and they change: confirm eligibility against the unit and the payment stage before treating it as part of the purchase.

Project data from the developer and its appointed sales partner. Rental and yield figures are third-party estimates quoted by the developer and are not a forecast; no income, capital growth or visa outcome is guaranteed.

Price and payment plan

The plan quoted by the developer’s sales partner is 30/70, and it is one of the lightest construction-phase schedules on any Dubai launch.

Two costs sit outside that schedule and are easy to miss. The 4% Dubai Land Department registration fee is payable at booking — AED 43,200 on the entry one-bedroom — plus an AED 6,350 administrative fee. On the sales partner’s own arithmetic, the cash needed before completion on that unit, including both, is about AED 373,550.

The 70% at completion is where the plan bites. It can be cash or a mortgage, and the sales partner illustrates it at roughly AED 4,200 a month on a typical term — but a mortgage offer is not guaranteed two years out, and off-plan lending terms change with the market. If you are relying on finance for the final payment, get an in-principle approval now and understand that the bank will value the finished building, not the price you paid.

Note the conflict: at least one other broker advertises a 40/60 plan with a 10% down payment. That is a heavier construction-phase commitment than the 30/70 the sales partner publishes. Ask for the schedule as written in the sale and purchase agreement, not the headline split.

Amenities

The amenities are on the roof rather than spread through a tower: a pool deck with sun terraces, a children’s water play area, a fitness space, landscaped seating and shaded outdoor rooms. At ground level the design runs planted pockets and open-air zones through the plot so the building reads as a small garden block rather than a wall of apartments.

This is a deliberately short list, and on a 48-unit building that is a feature rather than a gap: fewer facilities means a lower service charge and less plant to replace. The sales partner estimates the service charge at AED 16 to 18 per square foot a year including district cooling and VAT, to be confirmed by the owners’ association — on a 730 sq ft one-bedroom that is roughly AED 11,700 to 13,100 a year. Treat it as an estimate: the first budget after handover is the real number.

Ask which amenities are inside that charge and which are bookable, and ask what the cooling arrangement is — a district system billed separately changes the annual cost materially, and the sales partner’s figure assumes it is included.

Where it is

The plot sits in the Dubai South Residential District, the part of the masterplan around Expo City and Al Maktoum International Airport, with Dubai Aviation City Corporation as the master developer. The sales partner’s drive times put Expo City at six minutes, Dubai South Business Park at eight, Al Maktoum International at ten, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road and the Emaar South golf course at twelve, Jebel Ali Port at fifteen, Dubai Marina at twenty-five and Dubai International Airport at forty.

Those numbers describe the case honestly: this is an airport and Expo address, not a city address. For anyone working at DWC, in the Expo district or at Jebel Ali, the commute is the reason to live here. For everyone else, the E11 does the work, and forty minutes to DXB is the price of the entry ticket.

The metro is planned, not built. That distinction matters more than any drive time on this page: a station within walking distance would change the rental pool fundamentally, and until it opens the district is car-dependent. Ask where the station is planned relative to this plot, and be sceptical of anyone who describes it as existing.

At a glance

• 48 apartments — 16 one-bed, 8 two-bed, 16 two-bed with study, 8 three-bed with study.
• Ground plus four floors and a roof terrace, on a 28,666 sq ft plot.
• Broker-quoted from AED 1.08 million; AED 1,426–1,479 per sq ft across all four types.
• 30/70 plan: just 30% paid before completion, with 4% DLD and an AED 6,350 fee on top at booking.
• Completion listed as Q2 2028 — the developer’s page has also carried Q4 2027.
• Developer has delivered three buildings: ZāZEN One (2022), Gardens (2024, LEED Gold) and Ivy (2026).
• Dubai South Residential District: six minutes to Expo City, ten to Al Maktoum airport.
• Service charge estimated at AED 16–18 per sq ft including district cooling.

What we verify before you reserve

• The completion date as written in the sale and purchase agreement — Q2 2028 or Q4 2027.
• The payment plan in the SPA: 30/70 as the sales partner publishes, or the 40/60 another broker advertises.
• The unit behind the AED 900,000 starting price some brokers advertise.
• The escrow account, project registration number and the Land Department project value.
• Floor plates and which units are corners — the price list may not reflect the difference.
• The service charge estimate of AED 16–18 per sq ft, and whether district cooling is inside it.
• Where the planned metro station is relative to the plot, and when it is scheduled.
• An in-principle mortgage approval for the 70% at completion, before reserving.
• Three actual rents in comparable Dubai South buildings at your entry price.
• Assignment terms if you need to sell before completion.