Gautam Sashittal, CEO of King Abdullah Financial District Development and Management Company (KAFD DMC), sits with Imogene Lillywhite of Zawya for an extensive interview outlining what is next for the exciting city hub.
“You have got to make cities and urban centres humancentric. You have got to look at mobility and flexibility, and you have to future-proof your structures.”
With 95 buildings delivered in the district so far, amounting to 50% of the district area already being built on an area of 1.6 million square meters and with 10 new projects either in design or under construction, King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD), CEO, Gautam Sashittal, sees the “activation” of KAFD this year that will involve building more infrastructure, including car parking spaces, more office spaces, retail and the district’s “green lung”.
Plans include more retail, office and residential space.
Gautam Sashitall joins The 966.
“We are building more retail, more office space of the type that is flexible and suitable to SMEs, because that is the ecosystem that we are activating. 2024 is about activating the city and building for the future.”
Also, KAFD has completed 250 furnished apartments and 700 more are in the final stages, to be delivered within six to nine months.
“All of our apartments come furnished; you can walk in with your suitcases, and you don’t need to bring your furniture and so on,” Sashittal said. “As we have Grade A office space, we are building apartments that reflect the [same] sort of quality and the vision for the district, which is to create a prime destination for business and lifestyle.”
Along with the planned opening of the Riyadh Metro KAFD station later this year, Sashittal envisions easier access from all points in and surrounding Riyadh. He adds that, “Work from home is persisting in the West, which means that towers in New York in London are partially empty and being redeveloped. We’re not seeing that.”
“Ultimately, human beings are social animals. Zoom doesn’t do everything; you might [use] it once a week or every two weeks, but you really need to be sitting beside people you’re working with. A majority of jobs require that. We are seeing our district filling up and strong demand for office space from people coming to Riyadh and the kingdom.”
For more click here.
