Nakheel has announced plans to expand Dubai Design Centre (DDC), the hub for traders and retailers that offers a range of home furnishing and construction solutions at its International City.

The expansion at the DDC will now take the total area of the development to 13 million square feet with a net prime retail space of 5.7 million square feet, the rest of which is being used to create additional amenities for customers, tenants and patrons from the GCC and the Middle East.

Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem, executive chairman, Nakheel, said: "Dubai Design Centre answers the region's call for an integrated market space that is exclusively dedicated to offering every conceivable solution in home furnishing.

"The development is the first and only port of call for real estate and property developers in the UAE, the rest of the GCC and the Middle East region who are looking for world class furnishing accessories and building materials."

The DDC is located in Al Warsan. The 4.2 kilometre frontage of the project lies adjacent to the Emirates Road.

The DDC is spread across several zones offering showroom space for products that are clubbed together according to category.

These areas are lined up in the elongated 'U' shape of the development with each Zone providing customers choices in furniture, beddings, lounges, tables, general homeware, garden décor, carpets, fabrics, artwork, electrical and white goods, home entertainment products, lighting and fittings, electrical appliances, air conditioning and hot water, etc.

In addition, the centre features office blocks providing 80,000 square metres of prime office space and a business centre, offering integrated conferencing and business related solutions to the tenants of the project.

The centre will also host a three and a four star hotel, two food courts, as well as an entertainment section.

An external shuttle service is planned within the project to double up as a mass transit system. A public car parking facility intended for approximately 18,000 cars will occupy the entire lower level of the development.