As CEO of Al Barari Real Estate Group and son of the group’s founder, Zaal Mohammed Zaal, Hazza Zaal has spent 15 years with the family business, starting in sales and gradually gaining exposure to every part of the operation. That longevity has provided a valuable training ground for launching a company of his own. “I’ve been lucky enough to see different leadership styles during very different market conditions and how my brother, my sister, and my father dealt with external pressures that were outside their control,” he shares. That exposure is central to how Zaal now operates as he branches out with his own property development company, Elemental Developments. Working together with his family to build a successful business in the sector has given him first-hand lessons in resilience, customer experience, and the importance of staying close to the product. “Things don’t always go the way they are planned, so you have to be able to adapt,” he says. Al Barari was founded in 2005, and over the past two decades, it has evolved into one of Dubai’s most distinctive residential communities, with nature, wellbeing, and a strong sense of community embedded into its identity. Surrounded by extensive greenery and landscaped spaces, it offers a sense of escape from the pace of city life.
Integral to how Al Barari operates is the belief that the business doesn’t end when it sells a property. The company has built its reputation around the resident experience, continuing to listen to residents’ needs and feedback long after they move in. “The way we have established the community and the ethos behind how we have sold and marketed ourselves has really been through word of mouth. We’ve built that reputation over 21 years,” Zaal explains.
Central to his role as CEO is his commitment to building customer relationships. Many residents become repeat customers, while others bring relatives and friends into the community. “We don’t simply sell a product and move on.” Zaal explains. You sell it, deliver it, and then there’s post-handover. What happens two or three years later? You have to reinvest in the community because these are your customers for life.”
It is from that position that Elemental Developments, Zaal’s own development company, emerged. Rather than trying to distance himself from Al Barari, he is explicit about building from it. The new company is his own venture, but the experience behind it is inseparable from his role and experience at Al Barari. Rather than simply building properties, Elemental was created to build a way of life, with every project rooted in wellness and the intention of creating a community environment.
“My first priority is to the family and to the Al Barari brand,” he says. “My first responsibility is to preserve that legacy, what the brand means and the value it has created for its customers. Second to that is growing Elemental and applying the same love and passion that has gone into Al Barari to my own brand.” But Elemental is not about scale and speed.“With Elemental, I wanted to create less supply and something much more boutique: fewer units, a real focus on attention to detail and exceptional products, but at a more accessible part of the market,” he explains.
That difference is perhaps clearest in Elemental 78, the company’s first completed project in Jumeirah Garden City. Rather than launch purely off plan, Zaal chose to build first, using the project almost as a physical prototype for the brand. “Because it is a new brand and because of Al Barari’s reputation and my role as CEO, I felt we had to get it right. The only way to do that was to build the pilot. You can’t just design something and sell a dream.”
The decision came with its challenges. Zaal says the project could have reached the market earlier if Elemental had followed a more conventional off-plan model, but he preferred to test the proposition in real conditions. “I told the team this is the way we would do it, even if it took another year. I refined the materials, walked through it, felt it and experienced it. I brought people in to use the gym and children to play in the playground so we could test whether it was safe and fun.” Zaal’s involvement extends well beyond the bigger decisions. “I’m very hands-on. Spatial planning is key. You need to understand how the space feels and what it looks like,” he says. “Even when I think we’ve reached the end, there is always something that needs tweaking.”
Elemental 78 has 45 residences on a built-up area of 112,000-square-foot, but Zaal wanted the amenity offering to feel closer to what buyers might expect from a larger community. Outdoor yoga areas, a playground, barbecue facilities, and even a koi pond sit alongside extensive landscaping and mature planting. “We’ve added so much greenery to Elemental 78 that we’ve effectively made the neighbouring buildings greener too, because we’re giving them green views,” he says. “There are mature, large trees on the podium level that you can see from a distance, creating shade and attracting birds. The same applies to the rooftop.”
The completed building has also informed Elemental 22, a second residential property currently under construction in Jumeirah Garden City. The two projects share a similar footprint and structure, allowing the team to use Elemental 78 as a working template. “Being ahead with 78 gave me an opportunity to learn from it. Now, when we are doing the finishes for 22, I already know what it is going to look and feel like. The team can also build more quickly because they have a working template. We have already proven the concept and taken much of the trial and error out of the process.”
Jumeirah Garden City itself was a considered choice. Its lower-rise planning, community parks, and central location aligned with the lifestyle Elemental was designed to deliver, while offering proximity to many of the city’s popular areas including City Walk, Old Dubai, Downtown Dubai and DIFC. “When I first saw Jumeirah Garden City, it ticked all the boxes,” Zaal says. “There are community parks, padel courts and football pitch. Then there is the location. You are at this crossroads between Old Dubai and New Dubai.”
For Zaal, the goal is to create a lifestyle for his residents, and he believes true luxury shouldn’t be about excess or exclusivity. “It is about creating a sense of community: how you feel when you go outside, the people who are there, the social atmosphere, and the environment,” he says. And what’s special about Elemental is that, despite its location, every apartment is incredibly spacious. “The amount of space that each resident has at their disposal, in this location, is unheard of.”
This outlook inevitably leads back to the original vision of Al Barari. The community, he says, spans around 18 million square feet, with approximately 1,200 existing residences and another 300 under development, figures that demonstrate the low-density philosophy established by his father. “When my father first envisioned Al Barari, it was about asking what people really want. People want space,” Zaal says. “Giving people space to breathe, as well as greenery and nature, is in itself a luxury.” And that is exactly what Zaal is doing with his own company. Creating spaces that are more than just a place to live, they bring a sense of community, happiness and wellbeing.
For all the talk of legacy, however, Elemental is also evidence of Zaal’s ambition to build something recognisably his own. He wants it to remain boutique, detail-driven, and rooted in the lessons he has spent more than two decades absorbing. But he also sees it as a platform through which he can contribute to a wider evolution of Dubai. “I genuinely have a love for nature. It isn’t simply something I’m selling,” he says. “With the government’s initiative to green the city, I would like to be part of that journey.”
And in the end, that is how he measures the value of what he builds. “My goal is to create value for people. If I’ve done that, then I’ve won,” he concludes. “That is what real estate development is about.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: emirateswoman.com
