Rents for commercial property are rising in the Emirate of Sharjah, one of the United Arab Emirates, and supply can’t meet demand for the best office space at present. That’s the sign of a market on the move. London-based Cluttons, a global commercial real estate company, released its Sharjah Winter 2014 Commercial Market Outlook report recently, which says that “with general economic restructuring now starting to bear fruit, the demand for top quality office space by occupiers continues to rise, and is focused on Grade A space.” Sharjah is the site of the 2015 World Forum for Foreign Direct Investment, Feb. 8 -10, managed by Conway Events.
“As supply levels attempt to catch up with demand, high-end rents will likely rise,” claims the report. “The shortage of Grade A space and capital expenditure associated with any potential move will mean that larger occupiers will be either unwilling or unable to relocate and are likely to absorb any rent hikes,” said Steve Morgan, chief executive of Cluttons, Middle East. “We anticipate that smaller occupiers will be more flexible due to their cost conscious behavior.”
Meanwhile, rezoning land bordering Sharjah’s industrial areas to “commercial use” is leading to an upturn in warehouse occupants looking for alternate sites. “Although there has been no official enforcement of the change of land use in the wider Industrial Areas yet, we have already begun to see a knock on impact on the limited number of vacant land plots in more central areas, with prices continuing to rise,” said Faisal Durrani, Cluttons’ international research and business development manager.
Durrani said that land prices in the industrial areas currently run between $54 and $81 per square foot, depending on the size of the plot and proximity to main roads. “With the availability of larger plots dwindling,” he added, “it is inevitable that values will continue to creep upwards, which is likely to catalyze the development of more peripheral and emerging industrial estates.”
Container Port Adds Credentials
Gulftainer, headquartered in Sharjah, invested $60 million in four ship-to-shore (STS) cranes and 12 rubber-tired gantry cranes at the Khorfakken Container Terminal (KCT).
“The addition of these advanced crane systems at KCT underlines our commitment to further strengthen our operations at the terminal, which has defined its credentials as one of the world’s most productive hubs for container operations,” said Steve Ogden, operations director of Gulftainer. “The new STS cranes are not only larger with a greater outreach to better cope with the giant 18,000 TEU and above vessels, they also provide greater flexibility in their operations. This will help speed up the terminal operations and create even better value for our customers.”
Gulftainer’s investment helps raise the already high profile of KCT, the only operational container terminal in the UAE located outside the Strait of Hormuz. Positioned on the Indian Ocean coast close to major east-west shipping routes and just three hours from the UAE’s population centers, KCT is one of the most important transshipment hubs for the Arabian Gulf, the Indian Sub-continent, the Gulf of Oman and the East African markets.