Set to be one of the largest and most advanced mixed used retail, entertainment and hospitality projects in Qatar at 433,000sq m with 260,000sq m gross leasable area, Doha Festival City showcased, for the first time, its retail opportunities during “MAPIC 2011”. Held from November 16 to 18 in Cannes, France, MAPIC is considered an important international retailing event, bringing together retailers, investors and exhibitors from around the world. Marwan Shehadeh, head of Group Corporate Development at Al-Futtaim Group, said: “Qatar is experiencing unprecedented growth in almost every aspect of their economy, which is leading to a healthy increase in population and tourism. In terms of the retail scene, we believe that malls in Doha are currently undersupplied for the population with a real need for super regional centres that target both locals and tourists alike with easy access and convenient parking facilities. We felt that there was an excellent opportunity for us to bring the Festival City brand and our experience to Doha and to develop, along with our Qatari partners, what is set to be an iconic shopping, entertainment and hospitality destination. “MAPIC 2011 is an excellent venue and platform to showcase this mega retail shopping project. We are tremendously excited about the idea of creating what is set to be one of Doha’s most recognised landmarks and bringing in a large quantity of first time retailers not presently in Doha. Furthermore, IKEA, as a major anchor to Doha Festival City, will open in Q4, 2012 under the first phase, with the mall, entertainment and hospitality elements due to open in Q4, 2014.” A scale model of the project was unveiled for the first time on the stand indicating key zones of the retail shopping area where the interior design is inspired by nature and elements of wind, water, wood and earth. Within the retail loops are four distinct interior zones – water concourse, garden promenade, rainforest boardwalk and fashion galleria - viewed for the first time on the animation flythrough movie, giving retailers a view of the project that highlights the unique features and retail leasing opportunities available. Also on the stand were the Al-Futtaim projects, the retail shopping centres of; Festival Centre Cairo Festival City which is due to open in Q4 2012, and Festival Centre Dubai Festival City which is already in operation. It is estimated that Doha Festival City will be a QR6bn project covering 433,847sq m of land with over 260,000sq m of gross leasable area. It is owned and developed by Bawabat Al-Shamal Real Estate Company (BASREC), which is a joint venture partnership between Al-Futtaim Group, Qatar Islamic Bank, and other Qatari investors. Gulf Times

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