Commercial rents in Sharjah on the rise
02:54AM Fri 28 Feb, 2014
Sharjah: After tenants, it’s the turn of businessmen to bear the brunt of Sharjah’s bullish rental market.
Industry insiders say the scen-ario for the emirate’s commercial properties is heating up after a lull of almost three years.
At the receiving end are a host of small to medium businesses ranging from laundries and cafes to supermarkets and groceries, if not big companies.
Sathyan from India who runs a laundry in Al Nahda told XPRESS he has been notified of a “near 100 per cent” rent hike. “I have been operating here for the last five years, paying Dh80,000 for my space, but now I have been made to pay Dh150,000 for renewal,” he said. The hike is 87.5 per cent.
“My rent went up from Dh60,000 annually to Dh90,000 this time,” said Abdul from Bangladesh who renewed the contract for his grocery near Al Khan at the start of the year.
The manager of a big supermarket near the Al Tawuun area said they were lucky they had to fork out just 25 per cent this year. “From Dh400,000 in 2013, the joint rent for two of our adjacent shops shot to Dh500,000 this year,” said Badruddin, also from India.
Of late, Sharjah’s residential market has seen tremendous growth with rents in popular areas like Al Nahda, Al Maajaz and Al Tawuun almost doubling in just one year.
Such a surge may not be the norm for the commercial market, but Shane Breen, associate director of valuation at Clutton’s Sharjah, says things are picking up quickly. “The retail sector will continue to grow in tandem with it because both kind-of go hand in hand,” he said.
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