35% of Dragon 2 leased out

Nakheel said on Thursday it has already booked 35 per cent of over one million square feet of retail space in the new Dragon Mart expansion mall “Dragon 2” in just four days.

“The booking started on the 25 of this month, where it has experienced a huge demand from the tenants and the management has booked 35 per cent of the total letable area more than one million square feet,” the company said in a press statement.

The new mall, designed by Dubai-based firm, Dar Al Handasah, will be located to the north of the existing Dragon Mart and will include a multistorey car park, shopping mall, outdoor plaza and three-star hotel. There will be parking space for over 4,500 car parks to the complex area.

According to the company, most of the construction packages are now in the tender process.

In June, Emirates 24|7 repored that Nakheel had not given up the idea of building the Palm Mall, Palm Jumeirah, and the project has not been cancelled. “We are reassessing the plans for the mall,” a company spokesperson had said. It was also reported by this website that the developer was working on a plan for extension of Dragon Mart and Ibn Battuta Mall.

In August, Nakheel formally made the announcement to commence extension of Dragon Mart Mall. It had also said that it will begin development of community retail centres in Jumeirah Park and Discovery Gardens from next year.

Jones Lang LaSalle reported in September that the retail sector continues to be favourable to retailers, with landlords amenable to incentives such as shorter leases, rent free periods and percentage of sales only rents.

It added that vacancies have also remained stable at approximately 20 per cent across the market, with vacant units continuing to be well disguised with advertising/displays.

According to Nakheel, the car park will be a four-storey building and will accommodate up to 1,600 vehicles. The bids for the construction of the car park opened on December 25. The tenders are currently under technical and commercial evaluation. Nakheel expects the car park building to be completed in nine months.

The 1.7 million square feet new extension will have two levels and include a retail mix as hypermarket, cinemas, kids amusement area, food court and fine dinning restaurants. The tender for the construction will open on January 15.

The external plaza, located between the exiting Dragon Mart and the new expansion, is designed to serve as link between the two shopping malls and will have as retail, café and restaurants. The design package is complete and will be issued for tender shortly.

In addition, the Dragon 2 will feature a three-star hotel with 240 room capacity. The design is complete and will be issued for tender shortly.

Earlier this month, Nakheel reported a net profit of Dh526 million for the first half of the financial year ending December 31, driven mostly by handover of units and its leasing and retail operations

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