Sunday, Feb 26, 2017

Dubai: Dubai Wholesale City, the Dh30 billion ($8.1 billion), 550 million square foot mega-project, formally announced on Sunday the launch of its new light industrial and refrigerated units in its specialised industrial hub, Dubai Investment Park

“This launch mainly caters to the needs of light manufacturers and those with temperature controlled storage requirements. These pre-built units will hopefully be ready for lease by July,” said Saud Abu Al Shawareb, Chief Operating Officer, Dubai Industrial Park, speaking in an interview at Gulfood.

“The total investment from us in this project exceeds Dh350 million, and includes 1.5 million square feet of leasable area, and 197 units.”

The COO declined to specify how the project had been funded citing company policy not to talk about finances, although he did state the company had its own funds, and that the project had been financed through Tecom Group, a government-owned real estate investment vehicle.

On the company’s outlook for 2017, Al Shawareb stated that he was optimistic.

“Now is the right time to invest and build. Contractors are not busy, construction costs are competitive, and I think the closer we get to Expo 2020, the more expensive it will get, starting from 2018.”

Describing the current economic situation as “steady,” the COO went on to state that he saw a growing preference among companies to buy land and build their own units rather than lease more expensive pre-built units, something he saw as a “negative of the market.”

He attributed this trend to the rise of SMEs, many of which were founded in 2012 and 2013, preferring to lease smaller units until they expanded and could invest in their own facilities.

This crop of companies had moved on to their own facilities, and hadn’t been replaced by a new crop of SMEs due to the uncertain economic conditions.

“Some new SME company have been established recently, and they will want pre-built units.”

Regarding the importance of targeting companies at Gulfood, Al Shawareb said “we are targeting the big food manufacturing and logistics players, in addition to SMEs. Our focus is to attract big companies from across the GCC to establish their facilities in Dubai Industrial Park.”

He went on to state that Saudi Arabia was a particular target.

The COO declined to state how many of the new units had been allocated ahead of their launch this summer.

By Ed Clowes Staff Reporter

Gulf News 2017. All rights reserved.