1930s ushered in the era of neighbourhood shopping malls or community shopping centres in the US and by 1940 the concept had spread like wildfire across America and varied regions of the world. With the pandemic, the concept of shopping centres got a revival and the community aspect emerged as a return, globally.
Community shopping centres revolves around a captive audience and caters to the residents of the neighbourhood, where it is located. Keeping this aspect in mind DAMAC Group has recently opened the doors of DAMAC Mall, adding a new retail and leisure community shopping centre concept to Dubai’s luxury landscape.
Hussain Sajwani, CEO of DAMAC Properties is hopeful of the growing shopping landscape in Dubai and believes that community shopping centres will help them find a unique niche within the growing shopping centres landscape in Dubai. He mentions “It is a growing territory and surpasses every market expectation. This region presents a vast opportunity for real estate and retail, and we are hopeful that with our community shopping centres, we will be able to offer our growing pool of residents a community centre like no other”.
The mall’s future expansion plans are currently in the design stage. The expansion is in line with the demand from retailers and the tenant mix curated and created by DAMAC, keeping in mind the needs of residents of the DAMAC Hills community and visitors.
It is worth mentioning that DAMAC’s portfolio encompasses several communities, each offering distinctive living experiences. Among these is DAMAC Hills, its first master community in the UAE. The well-established, self-contained community symbolises luxurious living in every sense of the word. Featuring wide-ranging amenities, including modern apartments, villas, townhouses, and luxury residences in association with world-class brands, it includes nearly four million square feet of parkland with various themed areas for relaxation and sports. Many essential everyday services are available, including food trucks, Carrefour supermarket, Jebel Ali School, and a shuttle service to the Mall of the Emirates.
Likewise, DAMAC Hills 2 stands as another prominent master community in Dubai. Comprising clusters of thoughtfully designed apartments, townhouses, and villas, the community is characterised by its amenities. It offers a one-of-a-kind living experience inspired by water, sports, and fun for all ages. DAMAC’s community mall at DAMAC Hills 2 is 100 per cent leased with brands that include Carrefour, Brands for Less, Starbucks and Saudi German Clinic.
Adding to this impressive portfolio is the under-construction DAMAC Lagoons Community, adjacent to the DAMAC Hills area.
Community approach
Commenting on the opening, Amira Sajwani, Managing Director, Sales & Development, DAMAC Properties, said, “DAMAC Mall is part of DAMAC’s growing presence in the retail sector. It underlines our keenness to provide residents seamless connectivity and easy accessibility to community and retail amenities. We are confident that the mall’s carefully curated tenant mix perfectly aligns with the preferences of our local community. DAMAC is committed to consistently improving the quality of life for our residents and transforming our communities into dynamic spaces that offer unmatched convenience and satisfaction.”
She highlighted that the approach for them is to give the community and the DAMAC residents a taste of finer lifestyle and offer them a platform where they can shop, spend quality time over food and drinks staying within the vicinity of their homes.
Luxurious setting
The mall highlights a fusion of contemporary architecture and luxury finishes, and the individual retail outlets conform to the latest global standards of fit-out design and fittings. The ample natural lighting from the skylights gives the facility a vibrant ambience.
With its unique retail mix across diverse categories that meet the requirements of a community mall, DAMAC Mall expects an annual footfall of around 1.3 million visitors. In addition to the spacious interiors, the mall has a large parking area capable of accommodating 360 vehicles.
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