Doha Festival City Awards QAR1.65bn Main Mall Construction Contract

A QAR1.65 billion contract for the main mall construction of the mega Doha Festival City development has been awarded to a joint venture between Gulf Contracting Company and ALEC Qatar, it was announced on Sunday.

The award of the contract follows a lengthy bidding and evaluation process, said Bawabat Al Shamal Real Estate Company (BASREC), the project’s owner. The development is scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2016.

Located on Al-Shamal Road, Doha Festival City is the largest mixed-use development currently under construction in the Middle East, and on its completion, it will be Qatar’s largest retail destination. It will feature the Doha Festival City Mall, a hotel and convention centre.

Doha Festival City Mall, with a gross leasable area of around 250,000 sqm, will comprise 550 outlets representing international and local brands, including 85 restaurants and cafes, VOX Cinemas and a snow park. It will feature around 8,000 parking spaces.

“We have already signed tenancy deals with the region’s retail powerhouses, including Azadea, Alshaya, Landmark, Apparel, Rivoli, Dubai Holding Group,and Al-Futtaim Retail,” said Kareem M. Shamma, CEO, BASREC, the joint venture which comprises Dubai-based Al-Futtaim Real Estate Services, Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Aqar Real Estate Development & Investment Company and a private Qatari investor.

The mall’s substructure works contract for the construction of basement and ground floor levels was previously awarded to the same contractor in January 2014. Its current phase of development began on April 23, 2013 with a bulk excavation contract.