Dubai: Dubai’s international financial center DIFC is set for a multi-billion dollar expansion as the emirate seeks to become one of the world’s largest financial hubs, the Dubai Media Office announced on Tuesday.
The development, announced on Tuesday and named ‘Zabeel District’, has a total cost of $27.23 billion, Dubai Media Office told X. DIFC says it will have the capacity to host 42,000 businesses and will be completed by 2040, providing office, residential, retail, hospitality space, education and arts facilities in an area the size of about 120 American football fields. The financial hub’s expansion will be connected to the Dubai Loop, a planned underground rapid transit network announced by Elon Musk and UAE authorities, and will be able to accommodate flying taxis and self-driving cars.
Dubai is expanding
The hub expansion plan is part of a major infrastructure and real estate push by Dubai and joins another DIFC expansion, expected to be completed by the first quarter of this year, which will increase office space by 600,000 square feet.
The Gulf business and tourism hub, home to the world’s tallest building, has experienced a post-pandemic real estate boom fueled by foreign investment and government-led housing reforms, and its population soared past the 4 million mark last year, according to government estimates.
As Gulf countries diversify their economies away from oil and invest billions of dollars in areas such as financial services and infrastructure, the number of companies they are attracting to hubs like DIFC is growing.
The center hosted more than 8,000 active registered companies, including hedge funds, as of the end of November, with the number expected to more than double from 2024 onwards.
Developers are betting on strong demand for office space as businesses continue to flow in, drawn by tax breaks, convenient time zones and the presence of one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds.
The first phase is scheduled for delivery in 2030
The project will be one of the emirate’s biggest, along with a new metro line and the $35 billion expansion of Al Maktoum Airport.
The first phase is expected to be completed in 2030 and will include six new office towers, two residential towers, a hotel, and an AI campus.
“This project will be supported through a combination of internal resources, future development revenues and other financing structures as appropriate,” DIFC said.
($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirhams) (Reporting by Federico Maccioni in Dubai; Additional reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din and Jaidaa Taha in Cairo; Editing by David Goodman and Jan Harvey)
