Index Tower, DIFC
An 80-storey mixed-use tower by Union Properties, designed by Foster + Partners, on a corner plot in DIFC: location, amenities, unit types and real short-term rental income context for owners considering Airbnb.
Floors
80
Developer
Union Properties
Completed
2010
Units
Studio-3BR + penthouses
Area
DIFC
About Index Tower
Index Tower is an 80-storey mixed-use tower in DIFC, Dubai, developed by Union Properties and designed by the architecture firm Foster + Partners. Completed in December 2010, the tower rises to roughly 328 metres, making it one of the taller buildings in DIFC and a fixture of the district's skyline.
The building is officially titled "The Index" by its architect, and was originally announced under the working title "One Central Park" when the project launched in 2005. In Dubai's real estate market it is almost universally known as Index Tower, or Index Tower DIFC, the name used throughout this guide. There is no other building of note internationally sharing this name; all three names, The Index, One Central Park and Index Tower, refer to the same DIFC property, not separate buildings.
The tower's floors are split by use: the first four are service floors, the 5th to 29th are office space, the 31st to 77th are residential, the 73rd and 75th hold duplex penthouses, and the 77th to 80th hold triplex penthouses. A double-height sky lobby physically separates the office and residential zones. Index Tower won the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat's Best Tall Building Middle East & Africa award in 2011.
Location & Nearby Landmarks
Index Tower occupies a corner plot in DIFC, Dubai's financial free zone, at the junction of Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Mustaqbal Street. Financial Centre Metro Station, on the Red Line, is within walking distance, giving residents a direct route into the wider Metro network without needing a car. For a broader read on what DIFC offers as a rental market beyond this one building, Royale Stays' guide to Airbnb management in DIFC covers the district in more depth.
Downtown Dubai, including the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall, is roughly a 10 to 15-minute drive depending on traffic, and Business Bay is a similarly short trip, putting Index Tower within easy reach of two of Dubai's major commercial and leisure districts. Gate Avenue, DIFC's own retail and dining strip, sits inside the free zone itself, a short walk from the tower.
DIFC operates under its own civil and commercial laws, separate from the wider emirate, a legal distinction that does not affect the day-to-day experience of living there. The district functions as a walkable, landscaped business and residential enclave, with restaurants, art galleries and public plazas concentrated around DIFC's Gate District, a short walk from Index Tower. Burj Daman, another mixed-use DIFC tower Royale Stays has covered separately, sits nearby and gives a useful point of comparison for owners weighing a purely residential address against one with a hotel component; see Royale Stays' guide to Burj Daman, DIFC for that building's own location and amenity detail. Limestone House, a smaller low-rise DIFC residential building Royale Stays has also covered, sits a few minutes away and offers a lower-density alternative to Index Tower's mixed-use scale; see Royale Stays' guide to Limestone House, DIFC for that building's own location and amenity detail.
Unit Types
Index Tower's residential floors run from the 31st to the 77th, offering studio to three-bedroom apartments, plus duplex penthouses on the 73rd and 75th floors and triplex penthouses spanning the 77th to 80th floors. Based on current listings, one-bedroom apartments typically range from around 884 to 1,168 square feet, and two-bedroom apartments from around 1,598 to 2,686 square feet. Royale Stays has not confirmed an independent total unit count or exact studio dimensions for this pass, so this guide describes the mix and observed size ranges rather than a precise inventory. No floor-plan diagrams are included here: floor plans are typically the developer's or broker's proprietary material, and Royale Stays has not been able to verify them independently for this guide.
Amenities
A double-height sky lobby separates Index Tower's office and residential zones and houses a swimming pool, a fully equipped gym, a lounge and retail outlets, giving residents a dedicated recreational floor rather than ground-level-only facilities. The building runs 24-hour concierge and security coverage, with CCTV monitoring throughout.
Parking spans more than 2,400 spaces across the building, and 27 elevators serve the tower's 80 floors. The original design brief, drawn up by Foster + Partners, oriented the building along an east-west axis specifically to reduce solar gain and air-conditioning load, a passive-cooling strategy that was unusual for a Dubai tower of this scale when it was completed in 2010.
Transportation & Access
Financial Centre Metro Station, on the Red Line, is within walking distance of Index Tower, connecting DIFC directly to Downtown Dubai, Business Bay and the wider Metro network. The tower's corner position at Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Mustaqbal Street also gives residents quick road access to both of Dubai's principal arterial routes without needing to cross the city first.
Rental & Price Trends
Royale Stays has not independently confirmed rents specific to Index Tower in this pass, so the figures below reflect current live listing activity rather than a building-wide average. Based on listings observed via Bayut, one-bedroom apartments at Index Tower have recently been advertised in a range of roughly AED 125,000 to AED 168,000 per year, and two-bedroom apartments from around AED 220,000 to AED 375,000 per year. Service charges specific to Index Tower have not been independently confirmed via the DLD's Mollak index for this pass and are omitted here rather than estimated. Owners weighing a specific unit's earning potential against these ranges can run their own numbers through Royale Stays' Dubai property ROI calculator.
Airbnb / Short-Term Rental Income Potential
Short-term letting anywhere in Dubai, including at Index Tower, runs through a DTCM (Department of Economy and Tourism) holiday home permit, the same licensing requirement that applies regardless of building or area. DIFC's leasehold ownership structure does not by itself block holiday-home use: Sky Gardens DIFC, another tower in the district, already operates as a licensed holiday home, so the practical requirement at Index Tower is the same DTCM permit and building sign-off as anywhere else in Dubai. Royale Stays' guide to the Dubai holiday home permit covers what the process and fees generally involve.
Royale Stays does not currently have Index Tower-specific booking data to draw on, so this section speaks to the building's short-term rental viability generally rather than claiming a nightly rate or occupancy figure for this particular tower. Units at Index Tower are already listed for short-term stays by independent operators on established booking platforms, a genuine signal of existing STR demand for the building rather than an untested assumption. In Royale Stays' experience managing short-term rentals in DIFC and neighbouring Business Bay, well-located one and two-bedroom units in mixed-use towers with strong transport links tend to perform consistently, though results always depend on furnishing standard, pricing and the specific unit.
For an owner weighing whether Airbnb makes sense for a unit at Index Tower, the practical starting points are the same as anywhere else in Dubai: confirming the building's short-term letting policy, applying for the DTCM permit, and pricing the unit competitively against comparable DIFC and Business Bay listings. Royale Stays manages the full furnishing, photography, pricing, check-in and guest communications process for owners who prefer not to handle it directly, and our guide to choosing the best Airbnb management company in Dubai sets out what to look for when comparing operators. Owners ready to move forward can submit their property for a management review to get a clearer read on its Airbnb potential.
Income context reflects Royale Stays' own managed-portfolio experience across DIFC and Business Bay, reviewed by Chris Veinbaums, DTCM-licensed operator.
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