The world's largest shopping mall, Dubai's Mall of Arabia, will soon be awarded a multi-billion dirham contract. The new mall will be part of the Dh22 billion City of Arabia, developed by the Ilyas and Mustafa Galadari Group.
The contract is expected to be awarded within a month, say industry experts, the same time the main contractor for the mall is set to be announced, said Ilyas Galadari, chairman of the City of according to Gulf News.
Galadari stressed that construction work on the project will speed up as the announcement for main contractors for key components of the project nears.
"Piling work is currently under way in full swing. In three months you will see 18,000 people working on City of Arabia construction sites," Galadari said.
Contracts for key first phase developments, including Restless Planet and Wadi Walk will follow soon, Galadari added.
The City of Arabia is a massive shopping and theme park destination being developed on 20 million square feet of land within the Dubailand development. When completed, City of Arabia will provide accommodation for around 35,000 people.
Galadari stressed the massive demand for space in the new project, saying, "There is so much demand for space that we can lease all of Mall of Arabia today. We have a waiting list of 2,000, but we are trying to be selective about who will be present in the mall," he added.
The City of Arabia complex is due for completion in 2008.
