Dubai: The Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority (Dafza) plans to expand its facilities to meet growing demand, Dr Mohammad Al Zarouni, director-general of Dafza, told Gulf News.
He added that Dafza will announce 36 new warehouses facility in the Al Qusais area in the coming two months and other facilities close to Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 3.
Al Zarouni said that for the first time, Dafza will lease the land to develop these projects from government.
“Dafza warehouses’ occupancy is [at] 100 per cent and the increasing demand has lead to this expansion plan,” Al Zarouni said. “However, the other facilities will include a mixed-use retail and office complex that will accommodate various dining, health, entertainment and commercial establishment.”
The Dafza chief would not reveal the total worth of the projects.
“The two expansion projects will significantly extend the range of services, facilities and amenities that our clients enjoy,” he said.
Despite the increasing demand on Dafza, he said there would be no increase in rent prices for the current and new facilities.
Al Zarouni also said that the first phase of Dafza Square, a recently announced project, had already been completed. He added that the retail component is expected to be finished by the end of this year.
The Square project includes four floors of state-of-the-art offices with the best-in-class facilities and an allocation of spaces of approximately 3,000 square metres across two floors.
In 2013 Dafza contributed approximate 4.7 per cent to Dubai’s gross domestic product. Currently Dafza houses 1,530 companies employs around 180,000 people, Al Zarouni said.
