Dubai Courts has formally signed the emirate’s first project to be using the recently approved public-private partnership (PPP) law.

The $80m contract involves converting a portion of the car park at the Dubai Courts premises into an integrated development that would include two buildings, one to house the Supreme Courts and cater to commercial and retail establishments, and the other to comprise a multi-level car park equipped with robotic car parking technology. The car park is designed to feature 1,232 car parking spaces.

The project is located in the employee car park area within the grounds of the Dubai Courts, which currently has 250 car parking spaces.

Park Line, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) created by the Dubai subsidiary of India’s IL&FS Transportation Networks Limited (ITNL) and Next Generation Parking (NGP) of Saudi Arabia, will deliver the project on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis. NGP will be providing the automated car parking technology.

The project will have a concession period lasting 30 years at the end of which the project assets will be transferred back to the Dubai Courts, in compliance with the provisions made by the Dubai PPP law.

The construction period is expected to last 30 months, which is included in the 30-year concession period.

Project funding will be raised against the expected income from the assets. The project has set a six-month timeline for financial close.

While the agreement is signed within the context of the Dubai PPP law, which came into force in late 2015, the project development started much earlier and took more than a year, Park Line told MEED. “The final concession agreement features a balanced risk-sharing format that can be emulated by various [government] authorities,” said Shailendra Kaushik, business development director at ITNL.

Unlike a PPP framework that specifically caters to the power and water sector, the Dubai PPP law (Law No. 22 of 2015) is considered horizontal, which means it is applicable across industries.

Park Line said the project will be aiming for a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most car spaces operated by an automated car park technology in one building.