Dubai
Building new malls or expanding old ones still makes sense in Dubai — if there is a sizeable resident base growing around them. This is exactly what Nakheel Malls has been up to.
It was recently that the retail arm of Nakheel completed a major expansion at Ibn Battuta Mall, bringing in more brands and adding more options on F&B. The results are starting to show up favourably in the visitor numbers.
“We will be hitting 21 million this year and that’s a new high for the mall,” said Omar Khoory, Managing Director at Nakheel Malls. “The new expansion certainly helped get in more and we are looking at another 10 per cent increase in 2018.
Omar Khoory, Managing Director of Nakheel said 75% work on Nakheel Malls is complete and they are starting on roadworks. (Photo: Arshad Ali/Gulf News)
“Ibn Battuta is currently at 99 per cent occupancy. But we don’t think the retail sector in Dubai is at or near full capacity.
“At the end of the day, Dubai is growing in the area around Ibn Battuta and beyond. There is so much of new growth on the landscape.
“A lot of new homes are being built and there has to be the retail to cater to that population. It sure makes sense.” (Nakheel itself is developing a twin-tower to be part of the wider Ibn Battuta development.)
This will set the stage for a new round of expansion at Ibn Battuta, this one topping up the F&B servings and the entertainment further. Additional parking slots are to be created, all 800 of them.
“Third phase of mall expansion will happen on the Discovery Gardens side,” said Khoory.
Nakheel Malls already has quite a portfolio of new-builds and expansion works going on. It currently operates 17 million square feet of leasable space across 18 projects. Four million square feet of this is already operational through Ibn Battuta Mall, Dragon Mart, the Golden Mile Galleria and five neighbourhood “pavilions”. (As at Ibn Battuta, Dragon Mart too will go through a third round of expansion.)
But the jewel in its crown will be the “Nakheel Mall”, part of a mixed-use tower on the Palm. Two of the four retail anchors — Waitrose and Vox — have been named. The mall part is scheduled for a Q4-18 opening.
“About 75-80 per cent of the mall development is complete and we recently started on the roadworks,” said Khoory. “We are well advanced on the leasing side, at 60-65 per cent.
“Again, it is about creating a retail and entertainment destination to suit the location we are a part of. We have a 35,000 strong resident base at the Palm, and there are all those visitors coming over.”
Nakheel Mall will pack in 4.5 million square feet into the development, with the leasable area totalling 1.2 million square feet. (For anyone wanting a bird’s-eye view of the Palm, Nakheel Mall will be only too willing to oblige. There will be a viewing deck up on the 52nd floor at a height of 227 metres. Khoory says the viewing deck will be ready right about the time when the Mall opens its doors.)
Also out on the seas and involving an island, Nakheel Malls has much to do with the Deira Mall (on Deira Islands).
“The design for the Deira Mall is done and the main contract recently awarded,” said Khoory. “There are two landmarks that are getting built — the island itself and the mall — and in a part of the city that’s the most congested.
“There are to be four towers on top of the mall, two big parks with the mall in the middle and a set of towers surrounding it. With Deira Islands, we are building a full city of its own.”
