Up to 30 million people are expected to visit the Dubai Festival City's urban resort and leisure centre in its first year of operation beginning October 20 this year, the mega-project developer said yesterday in Dubai.
Already, developers have invested Dh11 billion in construction of the project, according to Phil McArthur, Managing Director of shopping centres and commercial real estate for Al Futtaim Group, which is building the five-tiered project along the Dubai Creek.
Ikea, the first major retailer to open at the Festival City late last year, will be joined by a string of new openings this month, McArthur announced yesterday at the Arabian Travel Market.
Next week, the HyperPanda hypermarket is opening its doors, along with 49 other smaller shops in the coming two weeks.
Before the month-end, meanwhile, massive showrooms for Ace Hardware and Plugins will also welcome customers.
But the main retail and food hub of the Festival City - called the Festival Centre - will open on October 20, debuting with 60 restaurants and 250 shops.Total investment in the centre has reached Dh3bn, and McArthur said he expects returns on the investment within six years.
More than 40 additional restaurants and 200 shopping venues will join in the following months, helping create what McArthur calls the "region's biggest dining cluster" - including fast-food chains from across the world.
Restaurants will include the popular Steam Some Dim Sum of the United Kingdom, Maca roni Grill restaurant and On the Border Mexican restaurant from the United States.
Many other regional and international restaurants will also make their debut in the Festival City, along with other Dubai crowd favourites, such as the Noodle House, Zaatar wi Zeit and Japengo.
"There will be 25 restaurants facing the marina and 39 on the canal that will cater to many different tastes and budgets," McArthur said.
The project will also boast three pavilions - the Hub, for nightclubs and cafes, the Taste Pavilion, an international food hall, and Trade Routes, a souk with indigenous restaurants and souks. McArthur said the major point of the project is its accessibility - already 7,000 underground car park spaces have been constructed, with plans for 15,000 on completion of the whole project.
The new, 12-lane Ras Al Khor fourth creek crossing, slated for completion next January, will make travel to the urban hotspot a lot easier for families, as it eases congestion on the Al Garhoud bridge crossing.
Meanwhile, plans are in the works for a fifth crossing to the south of the bridge.
The Festival Centre will accommodate two million square feet of retail space, and the city will also be home to seven hotels, a massive entertainment centre, 14-lane bowling centre, outdoor amphitheatre, golf resort, and thousands of apartments and villas housing 70,000 people.
As a result of this, and as the remainder of the project comes online over the next five to 10 years, McArthur said 125,000 people are expected to visit the urban retail resort in Dubai on a daily basis.
Hotel rooms
McArthur said 2,500 hotel rooms at the Festival City will open in 2007 beginning with the Inter Continental and Crowne Plaza hotels in March and April next year. In 2008 the Four Seasons hotel and the W hotel will also open at the site.
© Emirates Today 2006
