Waha Land, a wholly owned company of Waha Capital, has signed a Dh426-million ($116 million) financing package with Emirates Islamic Bank for further development of its Almarkaz light industrial real estate project, following the successful leasing of existing facilities.

Stage Two of the project will add an additional 187,000 sq m of premium industrial and logistics facilities and will also include retail and commercial amenities to enhance the business park experience of Almarkaz, said a statement from Waha Land.

The work on the new phase, which will be constructed in two packages, has been awarded to Ali & Sons Contracting, a leading Abu Dhabi construction company.

The Stage 2a will feature 92,500 sq m of industrial, logistics facilities as well as retail and commercial amenities. The first buildings in this package will be available for occupancy in June next year and the entire package by the fourth quarter of 2017.

The project is located 25 km south of the city of Abu Dhabi and benefits from its close proximity to regional transportation networks including the planned Etihad Rail freight network.

"Almarkaz has proven extremely popular because of the quality of the facility, and its excellent location as a hub in transport infrastructure," remarked Hazem Saeed Al Nowais, the chief executive of Waha Land.

"This success has enabled the project to achieve attractive financing. Building on the success of Stage One, we are moving ahead with our planned development, which aims to meet the needs of the Abu Dhabi manufacturing and logistics market in addition to SMEs (small and medium enterprises)," said Al Nowais.

"The ability to raise financing with the given economic backdrop further underscores the strong value proposition of the Waha Land business model and the strength of the Almarkaz Industrial Development," he added.-TradeArabia News Service