CTBUH dates the proposal to 2003. In December 2005 Gulf News reported that Union Properties had awarded Nasa Multiplex, a UAE–Australian joint venture, a Dh1.06 billion contract to design and build the tower, initially named One Central Park, with Foster and Partners of London producing the architectural concept. Arabian Business described it as a guaranteed-maximum-price contract of three years' duration. At that stage the project was announced as a 328 m tower with 86 floors, 25 levels of offices and 520 apartments and penthouses.
— Story
HEIGHT
326 m
CTBUH
FLOORS
80
+5 BELOW GROUND
APARTMENTS
520
CTBUH
ELEVATORS
27
CTBUH
CTBUH gives 2005 as the start of construction and 2010 as completion, with Brookfield Multiplex as main contractor. In its results for the first half and the first nine months of 2010, Union Properties said it was focusing on finishing and delivering The Index, which it called a mixed-use high-end residential and commercial building, before the end of that financial year.
In 2011 The Index won CTBUH's Best Tall Building award for its region, which The National described as best tall building in the Middle East and North Africa. In January 2012 The National reported that Union Properties had agreed to transfer Dh1.1 billion of assets in The Index and Limestone House to Emirates NBD, its largest shareholder.