Ethan

Ethan is a small residential building by Griffin Real Estate Developer in Nad Al Sheba 1, and the number that should catch attention is 7.5 km. That is the distance to Dubai Mall, with Burj Khalifa at 7.6 and Dubai International under 14. Very little new apartment stock at this price sits that close to the centre of the city.

A district almost nobody shortlists

Nad Al Sheba has spent most of its existence as low-density land: villas, government housing, stables and the open ground around Meydan. Apartment buildings were rare here because the plots were not sold for them, and the district never developed the tower-and-podium character of the Jumeirah Villages or Dubailand. It has no metro station and no shopping centre of its own, and for a long time it was simply not a place international buyers looked at.

The consequence is a district that is unusually central and unusually cheap for it. The comparison worth making is with the belts that dominate the mid-market: JVC and JVT sit close to 20 km from Downtown, and the Dubailand communities run past 25. Nad Al Sheba is at roughly a third of that distance while asking similar money, and the drive into Downtown, Meydan or the Ras Al Khor corridor is measured in minutes rather than in traffic strategy. What it does not offer is street life, retail on the doorstep or public transport, and that is exactly why it costs what it does.

Two payment plans, named after how you are funding it

Griffin offers this building on two schedules, and the labels are more instructive than most marketing language. One asks 20% at booking, 10% through construction and 70% on completion. The other asks the same 20% and 10%, then 50% on completion with the final 20% spread across roughly 20 months afterwards.

The first is described as mortgage friendly, and that is accurate rather than promotional. Banks in the UAE lend against completed property, not against a construction site, so a large single payment falling on handover day is precisely the moment a mortgage can step in and cover it. A buyer intending to borrow wants their obligations concentrated there. The second suits someone paying from their own funds, who would rather not produce most of the price in one movement and can carry a modest instalment for a couple of years instead.

The mistake is choosing on instinct. The right plan follows the funding method, and taking the deferred version while intending to mortgage anyway simply adds a balance the bank will not refinance.

A small building finishing now

The structure runs ground, podium and 6 residential floors with a roof terrace, so this is a few dozen households rather than a tower, with a temperature-controlled pool, a gym, a yoga studio, gardens and EV charging. The 1-bedroom apartments measure around 813 sq ft, with 2-bedroom layouts at roughly 1,109, which are comfortable rather than compressed dimensions.

Handover falls in 2026, meaning the building is at or close to completion. Griffin is a new name with a short public record, and for a developer in that position a finished building is the only evidence that counts, so the sensible order of business is to visit before committing rather than to assess the company on paper. Gorilla Real Estate Dubai can arrange that visit and confirm which of the two payment structures is still open on the remaining units.