Dubai: The Dubai Festival City mall is making its inexorable push towards the waterline. By year-end, the ongoing Dh1.5 billion expansion will have created a 300-metre long promenade right at the water’s edge, and which will house a raft of fine- and family-centred F&B options.
“There will be 22 outlets and offering the best seats in the house, so to speak,” said Brad Merchant, General Manager at DFC. “By creating an enclosed climate-controlled environment, ours will be a very popular family destination which can be enjoyed during summer and winter alike.” (The F&B outlets will be between 5,000-8,000 square feet.)
In many ways, the current expansion is trying to make full use of the mall’s location on the Creek. Earlier, there was only one stretch of property with a retail/entertainment component that could lay claim to this proximity at DFC. “With the expansion, visitors can walk through the central atrium all the way to the waterfront,” said Merchant.
What the expansion is doing is merge the mall’s two separate enclosures into one and then taking the whole further out to the Creek-side. A massive 50,000 square feet area is being reclaimed to situate the promenade.
“In terms of the overall mall redevelopment, we are at around the 70 per cent mark,” said Merchant. “We are fully on schedule and at the point where we wanted to be at this time.”
He added that there was no need for any upward revision on the project cost of Dh1.5 billion. (ALEC and Al-Futtaim Carillion are the main contractors.)
Two new department store operators — with locations at either end of the mall — have also been finalised though the identities have not been revealed. The first is to open its doors next year and the second in 2017. The two anchors will add a combined heft of 300,000 square feet to the gross leasable area.
“We will be announcing their names in the next couple of months,” said Merchant. “Access to these stores can be made directly from an external entrance or walking in through the mall interiors. How access points are structured are clearly determined by the available real estate.”
This week, the DFC mall will raise the curtains on an expansive glass facade that will offer “unparalleled views” of the Dubai skyline.
On whether there is more land available with the developer to consider future expansions beyond the mall, Merchant said: “We are sitting on a considerable amount of land; if the decision is taken to enhance the experience further, we could look to create a new hospitality component. But the critical mass needs to be there.
“As for within the mall, we will not be working on a high-luxury cluster. I don’t think the market conditions are right for such a push into luxury. Moreover, the audience and the positioning of Dubai Festival City mall is also slightly removed from such a super-luxury offering.”
