A start will be made in November on the development of two malls in Jeddah, in the west of Saudi Arabia, by United Properties, the recently announced joint venture between Old Mutual Properties and The Savola Group, one of the Kingdom’s leading industrial businesses.

The Jeddah projects, the Roshan and Jamea malls, follow developments in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, where the recently completed Azizia Mall, north of the CBD, is set to be joined by the East Ring Road Mall, with a gross lettable area of  100 000m².

Ignatius Kruger, business executive of United Properties and a former senior executive at Old Mutual Properties, says the Roshan Mall will be located on a most promising axis of future retail, residential and other mixed use development north of the Jeddah CBD.

He says the mall, due for completion in mid-2006, will have a gross lettable area of
34 000m², with 14 000m² taken by a hypermarket for the Panda chain, one of the Savola group businesses.

“It will be themed around the history and architecture of the old town. Roshan is a type of timber lattice work that is part of traditional Jeddah architecture.”

Kruger says that, apart from acting as development managers, United Properties will handle tenant co-ordination for Roshan Mall and manage the mall after its completion. The concept architects are DSA, a South African-based firm and the local detail design architects are SBCM.

“The Jamea Mall is expected to be completed late in 2005. It will be in a densely populated quarter, southeast of the city centre, and close to King Abdul Aziz University, the only university (jamea) in Jeddah and the oldest in the western region. It will have a gross lettable area of 25 000m² and will also be anchored by a Panda hypermarket of 14 000m². “

Kruger says other projects in the pipeline include retail, entertainment and mixed use developments in Dammam and Makkah, as well as a large regional destination mall in Madina.

He says the Madina development will be in the newly proposed green lung of the city, an area which will house the main central park and leisure, entertainment, social and residential facilities.

The mall will have a gross lettable area of some 100 000m² and will be anchored by a Panda hypermarket and other national and international retailers.

Kruger says the project has enormous support from the local authorities, residents and potential retail tenants.

Another major mixed use development, with a 100 000m² regional mall as the main attraction, is being planned for a site close to the Dammam international airport  and next to the highway linking the cities of Dhahran, Dammam, Khobar and Ra’s Tannurah. IKEA, the Swedish furniture retailer, will be one of the anchor tenants in the mall which is to offer fashion, lifestyle, entertainment, dining electronics and speciality retail.

Another Dammam retail development, with a 16 000 m² Panda hypermarket, is proposed for a site near the ARAMCO residential compounds, an area considered one of the most affluent in the city.
ends
 
ISSUED FOR  Old Mutual Properties/United Properties
BY Michael Kerkhoff & Associates
INQUIRIES  Ig Kruger Tel: 09 966 2 657 5260/5259/5257
                     Ian Watt 021-530-4537
                     Mike Kerkhoff 021-424-5280