Moving Your Office from Al Maryah to Al Reem: Is It Worth It?

Some of the firms we help on Al Reem did not start here — they started on Al Maryah and moved across at renewal once they realised the saving was sitting there for the taking. If you are already an ADGM company on Al Maryah and your lease or licence is coming up for renewal, this is a question worth asking calmly: is it worth relocating to Al Reem? In most cases the move is straightforward and the maths is compelling, but it is not automatically right for everyone. Here is the honest picture, including the steps and the moments when staying put makes more sense.

What stays exactly the same

The reassuring part first. Because both islands are inside the same jurisdiction, moving from Al Maryah to Al Reem changes almost nothing about your company's legal substance:

• Your licence remains the same ADGM licence — you are not re-incorporating.
• English common law continues to govern you exactly as before.
• The FSRA remains your regulator if you are a regulated firm.
• ADGM Courts remain your forum for disputes.
• Your ADGM address stays a valid ADGM address — just on the other island.

This is a relocation within one jurisdiction, not a migration between two. That is the single most important thing to understand before you weigh anything else.

What actually changes

In practical terms, the headline change is the bill. A dedicated desk that costs roughly AED 3,500 a month on Al Maryah is AED 1,200 with us on Al Reem — about AED 27,600 a year per desk. A private office, quoted by team size on Al Reem, comes in below the Al Maryah equivalent that starts around AED 5,000 a month. Your second change is the building itself: newer space, flexible terms, and the ability to scale up or down without a rigid long lease. We set out the figures in our article on the cost difference between Al Reem and Al Maryah offices.

The practical relocation steps

The mechanics are administrative rather than dramatic. In broad strokes:

1. Secure your new Al Reem workspace — a desk or private office sized to your licence and team.
2. Update your registered address with the Registration Authority so your official ADGM record points to the new office.
3. Notify the FSRA if you are a regulated firm, as your regulated address forms part of your supervision details.
4. Refresh your records — bank, letterheads, website, contracts and any third-party registrations carrying your old address.
5. Time it around your lease break so you are not paying for two offices at once.

None of these steps require you to dissolve and reform anything. Your corporate history, your incorporation date and your standing all carry over intact.

Timing it around your renewal

The cleanest moment to move is when your current Al Maryah lease is ending or breaking. Lining the relocation up with that date means you avoid double rent and you make the change once, in step with your licence renewal cycle. We usually advise starting the conversation a couple of months before your break date, so the new workspace and the address update are ready to go the moment the old commitment lapses. Our flexible arrangements are designed for exactly this kind of handover — see our overview of flexible office solutions in ADGM.

When the move is clearly worth it

For most firms, the case writes itself. If your team is small to mid-sized, if your office is essentially a registered presence plus working space rather than a client showpiece, and if your lease is up for renewal anyway, moving to Al Reem captures a five-figure annual saving for an identical ADGM licence. A three-person firm paying around AED 126,000 a year for desks on Al Maryah could be paying nearer AED 43,200 on Al Reem — the kind of gap that funds a hire.

When it might not be worth it

We would rather you make the right call than simply the cheaper one, so here are the cases where staying put can be reasonable. If you are mid-way through a long, non-breakable Al Maryah lease, the penalty for exiting early may swallow the first year's saving. If your business depends on a specific Al Maryah location for footfall or a prestige client setting, the intangible value may matter to you. And if a move would disrupt a delicate moment — a live funding round or regulatory application — it can be wiser to wait until things settle. In each of these, the move is usually still worth it eventually; it is the timing that needs care.

Frequently asked questions

Do I keep my licence and company number when I move?

Yes. Moving from Al Maryah to Al Reem is an address change within ADGM, not a re-incorporation. Your licence, company number and corporate history all stay intact.

Will moving affect my bank account or client contracts?

Your company is unchanged, so the relationships continue. You will simply update your registered address with your bank and on any contracts or registrations that carry the old address — routine housekeeping rather than renegotiation.

If I am FSRA-regulated, is the move more complicated?

It involves one extra step: notifying the FSRA of your new regulated address. Regulated firms also need a private office rather than a desk, so we will size that accordingly. Beyond that, the process is the same.

How long does the relocation take?

The workspace is available quickly; the address update with the Registration Authority is administrative. The main timing factor is your existing lease, which is why we suggest aligning the move with your renewal or break date.

Talk to MY Coworking

Renewing on Al Maryah soon? Let us run your exact numbers for an Al Reem move and handle the address change cleanly around your lease break. A short call is usually all it takes to see the saving.

We're on Al Reem Island — 2312 Addax Tower, City of Lights, Abu Dhabi. Email contact@mycoworking.ae to book a tour or get a same-day quote.