Work on a 1 million-square-foot family entertainment and retail complex in Jumeirah is set to start after the private Dubai developer Meraas awarded Al Futtaim Carillion a Dh919 million construction contract.
In a notice to the London Stock Exchange yesterday, the British builder Carillion said that it had been awarded the contract to build the second phase of Meraas’ The Avenue Phase 2 City Walk.
Carillion said that its UAE joint venture, Al Futtaim Carillion, would start construction on the scheme immediately and the project was expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2015.
Al Futtaim Carillion completed the first phase of the City Walk project in 2013 and the outdoor development, located at the junction of Al Wasl and Al Dafa Roads, opened in December.
The first phase comprises 140,000 sq ft of 52 shops and cafes, along with a tree-lined walk designed to look like European streets and 600 parking spaces. Shops include Zmilelee, Crea & JNBY, Sauce in the Hood, She Moves, Roberto Cavalli Décor, Mothercare and Early Learning Centre.
“We continue to see more opportunities coming to market,” Richard Howson, the Carillion chief executive, said regarding Dubai.
The news comes just a month after Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and the Hollywood actor Will Smith attended a soft launch for another of Meraas’s open-air projects, The Beach at JBR, which has four plazas connected by an esplanade along with Dubai’s first outdoor cinema.
Yesterday Emaar Retail, the retail branch of the Dubai developer Emaar, said that its Reel Cinemas brand would operate the cinema on the Dubai Marina shoreline and that it would be able to accommodate more than 800 people.
“What we are seeing is that as Dubai grows it is experimenting with new retail formats, which are needed to keep things fresh,” said Stuart Gissing, the regional director at Colliers International’s Dubai office.
“There are lots of retail formats that are very successful globally that are currently not in the UAE,” Mr Gissing added. “Dubai needs to explore these new formats further if it wishes to attract types of retailers that are currently not present in the UAE such as mom and pop stores, fashion designers and other independent stores.”
In its full-year results for 2013 published yesterday, Carillion reported that its pre-tax profit fell 33 per cent to £110.6 million. It said that underlying operating margins for its Middle Eastern construction services business fell to 4 per cent last year from 6.1 per cent in 2012.
lbarnard@thenational.ae
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