(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The QR6bn Doha Festival City (DhFC), which is home to Ikea and will see the opening of the country's largest mall next year and a 300-room five-star hotel by 2017, is keen to expand its retail side and strengthen leisure and entertainment (L&E) components to make it one of the largest L&E destinations in the Middle East, according to the developer.
The developer Bawabat Al-Shamal Real Estate Company (Basrec) has also initiated talks with the Qatar Rail on festival city station in the Green Line of Doha Metro, a move that will enhance connectivity to DhFC, which has carefully selected the strategic locale of the country for its project with a gross leasable area of 250,000 sqm.
Recently, the developer awarded Gulf Contracting Company in joint venture with ALEC Qatar a QR1.65bn contract for the main works its mall, which will feature over 550 shops and stores through a carefully balanced selection of global and local brands, including more than 85 restaurants and cafes.
Rather than being a mere retail landscape, the project - whose promoters are the UAE-based Al-Futtaim Real Estate Services, Qatar Islamic Bank, Aqar Real Estate Investment Company and a private Qatari investor - is being developed to be a complete destination in itself with unique L&E concepts such as snow park, bungee cages, rapid river ride, all first in Qatar.
"We have a strong combination of internal and external L&E. The uniqueness of L&E area alone will differentiate us from the other malls," Basrec CEO Kareem Shamma told Gulf Times when asked how DhFC will be a value addition to Qatar's retail landscape in view of a total of 13 operational malls at present and another 27 in the offing.
He said luxury component would be a feature in the festival city but there will also cater to wide demographic and attracts market from all sort of price points.
Although DhFC is open to having alliances with international amusement brands, he said at present, its unique selling points put the project in good stead to leverage itself rather than being dependent on foreign brands.
The development - which is located just north of downtown Doha on Al Shamal Road, one of the main arterial routes to the city - is aiming a premium price positioning in the retail landscape and has already made enough provisioning towards project cost inflation.
"We have certainly made allowances for inflation. There are several ways to mitigate, one of which is advanced purchasing," he said, when asked about a report by E C Harris, which said Qatar's project inflation may peak by 2016 or 2017.
Rather "inflation may even have a positive twist to the project. Rental rates will be in line with demand. It could well be commercially a blessing in disguise for us", Shamma said, adding that the second phase of the mall and the appurtenant L&E are expected to be up and running by September 2016.
About hospitality, he said Basrec was close to finalising a deal with a globally renowned hotel group and by the first quarter of 2015, it will be made public.
The project will not have any residential component although Al Futtaim brand positioning has housing units in Dubai and Cairo festival cities.
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