Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate is one of the largest family-owned enterprises in the Middle East region. RLI speaks to Philip Evans, Director of Group Leasing at AFGRE, about the group’s upcoming projects – Cairo Festival City and Doha Festival City – as well as an update on the hugely popular Dubai Festival City.
Al-Futtaim is one of the largest family-owned enterprises in the Middle East region and owners of the globally acknowledged Festival City brands in the UAE and Egypt which cater for leisure, shopping and entertainment in the two countries.
The group completed the successful Dubai Festival City four years ago and are scheduled to open the eagerly-awaited Cairo Festival City in Q4 2012 and broke ground on Doha Festival City in October 2011.
Speaking about the year’s performance, Philip Evans, Director of Leasing at AFGRE, said for Dubai Festival City (DFC) it has been a year of maintaining its position within a very competitive retail environment given the huge oversupply of retail in Dubai. He said retail sales have bounced back quicker than commentators had suggested due to an increase in tourism from other Middle East countries as a result of troubles in neighbouring countries.
 Evans said: “DFC is now in its fourth year of operation – we are presently looking at a redesign of several key areas of the mall to ensure greater free flowing of traffic and we have also just opened the Marina Restaurant Pavilion to showcase the vast array of international F&B outlets within the centre that overlook our marina and canal waterways.”
Evans said the group was in the process of evaluating its family entertainment offering in order to expand this area to showcase DFC as a key destination throughout the year to visitors and tourists alike. The developer has just opened the first Emirati themed restaurant in Dubai, Al Fanar, which is a complete experience of Emirati Tradition with genuine Emirati cuisine.
 
Speaking about the tenant mix at DFC, Evans said the group is constantly reviewing its international and local retailer mix to ensure it has the right brands.
He said: “Of course like all malls in UAE, we have seen some casualties as a result of economic conditions, however retailing in Dubai and the UAE are still high and at the top of the list around the world for shoppers.”
Meanwhile, in Cairo the construction of Cairo Festival City’s shopping centre
is moving full steam ahead and is expected to open its doors to the public in Q4 2012. Over 40 per cent of the tenant line-up includes new to market retailers, and promises a truly world class retail environment.
Speaking about AFGRE’s latest development, Festival Centre at Cairo Festival Centre, Evans said construction was delayed due to the Egyptian revolution in January, but is on track to being operational in the second half of 2012.
www.dubaifestivalcity.com
www.festivalcitycairo.com
www.festivalcitydoha.com
For the full article, please see the November 2011 issue.
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