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28 March 2024

About 99% of industrial land at DIC leased out

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By Karen Remo-Listana

(XAVIER WILSON)   

 

The industrial section of Dubai Industrial City (DIC) is almost completely leased out while 85 per cent of the commercial area has been sold, says the development’s Chief Executive Officer.


DIC, which was launched in November 2004, covers 560 million sqft and is the third largest non-real estate project in the emirate. It features six industrial clusters for food and beverages, base metal, mineral products, chemicals, transport equipment and parts, and machinery and mechanical equipment sectors.


However, unlike the free zones, DIC leases industrial land for only 45 years while offering the possibility of an extension for a further 50 years. “We lease land in the industrial clusters and sell land in the commercial area,” CEO Rashed Al Ansari told Emirates Business.

“Currently almost 99 per cent of the industrial land is leased out so what we have now is a system in which companies can still apply for land but they will be put on a waiting list.

Land will be allocated if it becomes available when an investor pulls out or cancels a project or when a company fails to meet DIC’s requirements,” said Al Ansari.


DIC has achieved more than Dh1.5 billion of sales of commercial land for use as schools, shopping centres, hospitals, residential areas and recreation and entertainment facilities, said Al Ansari.
 
The unsold 15 per cent of land in the commercial area was reserved for what Al Ansari described as “iconic projects”.


“Although the land is almost completely leased or sold we still have a lot to do as we have to develop the site and market our industrial products. We still have to market our seven labour accommodation complexes, which will be ready early next year,” he said.


Al Ansari said expansion was not in the company’s immediate plans but would be considered after 2009. “Most of the expansion would probably be within the region,” he added.

He said Dh55bn had been earmarked for the entire DIC project. The total included third-party investments, the cost of infrastructure development and the establishment of labour cities.


DIC, which is due to be completed by 2015, will have 450 factories and an employee base of more than 150,000. One factory, run by Conmix, is already operational but hundreds more are still being built.

Four office blocks, some labour accommodation and a 10km arterial highway cutting through Dubai’s industrial areas and linking Emirates Road with the Dubai Bypass have been completed.

The two-lane, Dh250 million road took 12 months to build and will offer quick access to vehicles transporting goods and services across the industrial city.


DIC has launched four office projects in the past 12 months as well as 1.5 million sqft of warehousing and the Dubai Industrial Academy. Three of the four buildings launched in June 2007 and a number of warehouses have been leased.


“The plan is that we finish the entire project by 2015 but this will depend on third-party factors. About Dh777m has been poured into the first phase, which will be completed in 2009.

Construction of the second phase, slated to begin in 2009, will be brought forward to 2008 due to high customer demand, while the third phase will start later.”


Al Ansari was speaking at the signing of a strategic partnership agreement between DIC and the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa).


He said at least six electricity substations would be built to serve companies operating at DIC but declined to say how much they would cost. “We have determined the number of substations needed in the masterplan but we expect that to go up and we are prepared to build more as needed.”


Dewa managing director and CEO Saeed Al Tayer said the authority  had sufficient capacity and would supply DIC at an “unchanged price”. “We will not change our existing policy, however much capacity is needed,” said Al Tayer.


The construction of two temporary sewage treatment plants has also been completed. The plants will service the industrial city for the next two years.