DIP-based companies reach 4,600 as investors take advantage of park’s proximity to Expo 2020 site

Above, inside a manufacturing plant at Dubai Investments Park in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

Dubai Investments has said that 100 new companies have either leased units or sublet space at Dubai Investments Park [DIP] last year, bringing the total number of firms on the 2,300-hectare development to 4,600.

Construction has also started on 48 new sites to build new facilities, mainly from manufacturing companies.

Omar Al Mesmar, the general manager of DIP, said that its proximity to the Expo 2020 site made the park “a favoured option for investors and end users, with pent-up demand for logistics, accommodation and ancillary services”.

“Over the last 18 years, DIP has attracted a number of companies and big businesses to its industrial zone, and contributed immensely to the country’s GDP,” he said. “The total value of investments made by DIP tenants towards their facilities and factories is approximately Dh50 billion.”

More than 95 per cent of the land at DIP is leased to tenants and 98 per cent of its industrial zone is occupied. Tenants are generally involved in light-to-medium industries such as aluminium, steel manufacturing, oil and gas, construction, building materials, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, among others.

Wider facilities at the park include 12,000 homes, 20 million square feet of office space, six schools and five hotels. Eight new hotels are also being built.

A study published earlier this month by Cluttons argued that demand in Dubai’s industrial market has already begun moving southwards across the city towards Dubai South and Al Maktoum International Airport, which is the neighbouring district to DIP that also contains the Expo 2020 site.

Despite this, rents for prime industrial property remained flat in Dubai South (at Dh60 per sq ft) over the past 12 months and have declined by 6 per cent (to Dh47 per sq ft) in DIP. Rents for secondary industrial units have dropped by about 5 per cent in both communities.

Faisal Durrani, the head of research at Cluttons, said: “Our research shows that although prices across the leasing and sales markets have softened over the first two quarters of this year, the volume of transactions has been maintained.”

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