01 March 2005

Majid Al Futaim (MAF) unveiled the architectural model and final plans for its 1.5 million sq ft mixed-use shopping centre – Bahrain City Centre – at a groundbreaking ceremony held at the project site in Seef district last month.

The main contract for the $400 million project is expected to be awarded this May.
The project, which will house the Middle East’s largest 20-screen Cineco Cinema and more than 350 stores, also features a 54,000 sq ft family entertainment centre, called Magic Planet. The development will include two hotels with a total of 700 rooms, which will directly link to the mall itself. The project will also be home to what is expected to be the largest indoor water park in the Middle East, covering 135,000 sq ft and providing a temperature-controlled aquatic experience to visitors all year round.
Jeff Rossely, group vice president of MAF, the UAE-based promoter of the project, said that through this project MAF would introduce the hugely successful ‘City Centre’ shopping, entertainment and leisure brand to Bahrain, with the island’s biggest retail complex set to open in Manama.
Bahrain City Centre will include 10 anchor stores and negotiations are already under way with two major international department stores. Other facilities will include 30 international restaurants and Bahrain’s first Carrefour hypermarket, which will span an impressive 172,000 sq ft, as well as 6,000 covered car parking spaces, Rossely said.
“Bahrain is a very exciting market and a natural progression for the regional expansion of the ‘City Centre’ brand name,” said Peter Walichnowski, CEO, Majid Al Futtaim Investments, “Like all of our malls, Bahrain City Centre will have several ‘firsts’ for the region, both in terms of its sheer size and scope as well as its unique offering of a fully integrated shopping and leisure destination. We are confident that the centre’s innovative and distinctive mix of international and local brands will not only transform the retail environment of Bahrain but also establish a benchmark for the regional market.”
Leasing interest in the property has already been significant, with lease offers for almost 70 per cent of the new centre already, and a target opening date set for early 2007.
Established in 1992, the MAF group has rapidly become a business of international significance. Credited with successfully bringing the concepts of the mega mall and the hypermarket to the region, the group started from its Dubai base and is now operating six successful shopping centres in the Arab world with plans in place to take its pioneering concepts into other major cities in the Middle East.

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