DWC signs retail pact with BurJuman

Dubai: Dubai World Central (DWC) - the upcoming 140 square kilometre city-within-a-city in Jebel Ali - will launch its retail district plans within DWC Residential City, DWC Commercial City and DWC Golf City in 2009.

As the first phase of this development, Dubai World Central has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BurJuman, a leading company in developing shopping centres, to cooperate in conceptualising the retail districts within the project. DWC is nearly twice the size of Hong Kong.

"DWC's real estate components cover nearly 40 square kilometres of which at least 20 per cent will translate into retail units," said Khalid Bin Harib, real estate CEO for DWC.

"This will add at least 40 per cent to the existing number of retail outlets in Dubai's shopping malls which today stand at 3,500.

"The GCC retail market which is worth upwards of $50 billion is constantly evolving. DWC's retail districts, catering to an eventual population of nearly a million, will revolutionise the way the market operates. Malls in Dubai currently see a footfall of over 140 million annually. "BurJuman has been instrumental in enhancing Dubai's prestigious retail centres and DWC will benefit from its experience in introducing new brands to the market."

BurJuman is one of the oldest malls in Dubai with over 800,000 square feet of gross leasable area (GLA) and a total retail size of 2.8 million square feet.

"DWC and BurJuman are an integral part of a booming economy, joining hands to usher in an innovative retail experience to a brand new city, set to be at the heart of new Dubai," said Eisa Adam Ebrahim, general manager at BurJuman.

"Given the tremendous amount of retail developments currently underway throughout the GCC, the region's GLA is expected to go just over 16 million square metres by 2010 - by which time DWC will contribute a significant percentage."

Grading work has been completed on DWC Residential City's first two phases with construction expected to commence this month.

DWC provides for mid-income housing at its Residential City while its Commercial City will have a mixed-use development. Its Golf City is being designed for premium living.