New mall in Dubai to offer high-end luxury brands for less

Dubai is building a new 'village' that will sell high-end luxury brands at discounted prices. 

Meraas, a Dubai-based real estate developer, will commence work on the Outlet Village next year, which will cover an area of over 20,000 square meters and house 160 top-tier outlet stores. 

The company said: “Unlike traditional ‘outlet’ malls, the Outlet Village will retail high-end luxury brands at discounted prices.” 

In Cityscape Global, which took place last week, Meraas showcased two new developments - The Beach and Island 2. 

The Beach is a retail, food and beverage and entertainment destination that will take shape at the Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) between the beachfront and existing promenade, while The Island 2 is a mixed-use development designed as a high-end boutique resort featuring low rise apartment buildings and a marina. 

Though the construction on Outlet Village will commence 2012, the company did not give value or project completion date. 

Located at the intersection of Al Khail and Um Suqeim road, the Outlet Village concept has been inspired from a European village.  Phase-one of the development will feature 100 high-end brands, while phase-two will consist of 60 outlet stores. 

Developed by Al Ahli Holding Group, Dubai Outlet Mall is the only “outlet” concept mall in the Middle East and home to over 1,200 of the world’s premium and top brands, the mall website states.

It adds that the mall is dedicated to being a true and “ultimate value retail destination” where one can snap up discounts of between 30 and

90 per cent on the majority of products available in the 240 stores on offer. It also is home to the first “Chuck E Cheese’s” family entertainment venue in the UAE.

Last year, Meraas announced construction of the $544 million Phoenix Mart that will comprise 6,000 outlets with the vast majority new brand names from China.  The developer had also announced launch of Dubai Adventure Studios, a movie-based theme park spread across eight million square feet.

In June 2012, Nakheel, the developer of Dragon Mart, said it has awarded construction contracts worth Dh600 million for the Dragon Mart Phase 2, which will add 177,000 square metres to the existing mall, brining the total size to 335,000 square metres. The mall in size will equivalent to 47 international football pitches. 

Although the Dubai economy is still on a recovery path, the gross domestic product is projected to grow by 4.5 per cent in 2012. This performance is being driven by the strong growth of key sectors such as tourism, commerce, retail, hospitality and logistics.  

The total stock of mall based retail space in Dubai at the end of third quarter 2012 was estimated at 2.9 million square metres, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. 

The only major completion scheduled for the next quarter is Phase 1 of The Avenue by Meraas, which will add around 13,000 sq m of retail space to the existing stock. 

JLL believes there remains strong demand for retail space in the best performing super-regional malls (eg Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates), resulting in sustained prime rents of Dh4,700 per sqm. 

However, the retail market is becoming increasingly two-tier and older, less popular malls are seeing weakened demand from consumers and retailers, with mall owners having to consider new marketing techniques and product positioning, the consultancy has said.

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