Nakheel plans to develop 100 shopping malls in 20 years

Dubai: Nakheel will develop 100 shopping malls in the next 20 years that will cater to three million-strong communities the developer is planning to build in Dubai, a top official said.

The company will soon announce a major tie-up with a global retail hypermarket chain to operate supermarkets and hypermarkets, totalling 40 in the next 20 years.

"We are investing billions of dirhams in malls development to strengthen our retail portfolio and with 13 million square foot retail development, we are going to become the largest shopping mall developer in the Middle East," Graham Dreverman, group managing director of Nakheel Retail, told Gulf News. "The number of shopping malls will cross 100 in the next 20 years to cater to the three million-strong communities being built by Nakheel."

Nakheel Retail is the newly restructured retail arm of Nakheel - the largest UAE developer by project value, estimated at $80 billion. There are four divisions spanning shopping mall and retail brand development - Shopping Malls, RetailCorp, Hypermarkets and Food & Beverage. Nakheel Retail Shopping Malls is the retail property division of Nakheel Retail undertaking ownership, development, management, leasing and marketing of shopping malls strategically located around Nakheel's residential communities.

"Among the new developments, we are constructing the Palm Mall, Palm Jumeirah - a premier retail destination on the first Palm development, to be followed by Palm Mall, Palm Deira - an enormous retailing precinct planned for the first phase of the Palm Deira. Besides, we are going to double the space of Ibn Battuta Mall through Phase II expansion."

The company is also developing India Mart, which will combine the very best of Indian wholesale and retail shopping with entertainment facilities; and finally Great Mall Dubai - a 'three-in-one' mall concept at International City.

Nakheel Retail Hypermarkets complements the other retail platforms dedicated to establishing an international hypermarket that will set the benchmark for the region. "We are soon going to announce a tie-up with a major global retail chain to manage hypermarkets across the GCC," he said. "We are initially looking at establishing eight hypermarkets during the first five years going to 40 in the next 20 years."

Nakheel Retail Food and Beverage will target the diverse markets in the region by embracing the cuisines of the world, and will become the largest and most diverse food and beverage operator in the UAE within five years.

He said the company has already acquired a South African restaurant chain that currently operates 30 outlets. "Under the Nakheel Retail Food and Beverage arm, we are planning to roll out more than 300 restaurants across Middle East and Africa region within the next five years," he said.

Nakheel RetailCorp is already a dominant operator in the sports sector through various franchise and joint venture agreements with top brands.