A new trend has taken Dubai by storm; the fitness sector is merging with Dubai’s office market, resulting in an increasing number of office buildings with fitness centers in them, reports Core Savills in its Dubai Office Market Spotlight. David Godchaux, CEO of Core Savills, reveals that the number of work-live-play developments in the pipeline is changing Dubai’s working environment, embracing the “new age of fitness”. He explains more…

Reasons for the Shift in Attitude
“Fitness is a global trend which has positively changed attitudes towards wanting to exercise regularly, being fit, eating healthy and organic. Social media is one of the key contributing factors to the trend going viral. With the growing number of fitness concepts entering the market and the emphasis on wellness initiatives implemented by the local government in the UAE, demand and supply have grown hand in hand.”

More Mixed-Use Developments
“Expats and millennials are adopting a live-work-play philosophy which is pushing demand for bona-fide mixed-use developments with integrated services such as fitness centers within close proximity to offices, as our Dubai Office Market Spotlight revealed. For example, DIFC, Business Bay, and JLT are good examples of office areas with a high concentration of gyms, dominated by independent operators. It is also interesting to note that Dubai is witnessing an increasing number of homegrown start-ups in all sectors, health and fitness included.”

Bouquet Work Studios
“Core Savills has received a growing number of lease enquiries from fitness centers for commercial space within office buildings, as they attempt to cater to the growing demand of gym enthusiasts in new creative manners. These boutique workout studios are conveniently located and usually offer innovative workout classes such as spin, HIIT or boot-camp sessions, facilitating lunch break work-outs for employees. This format is popular as employees are time constrained and prefer to exercise just before stepping in the office, during lunch or after work hours. The fitness programs are also tailored to offer an intense and structured 45-mn session, so that users can squeeze them in their dynamic daily schedules. This encourages gym operators to target large demographic catchments, a trend which we identified as increasing within office buildings.”

Long Term Benefits
“Indeed, it works better in the long run as incentivizing employees to get in better shape benefits organizations to have a fit, happy and productive team. They can get tangible benefits with cost savings in terms of lower stress levels and a drop in sick leaves.”