MEED reported that UAE based Majid al Futtaim is evaluating bids from contractors to build the USD 40 million super structure of its City Centre shopping mall on the outskirts of Beirut.

MAF plans to build the mall, which will be similar to its branded City Centre malls in the UAE, on the Damascus road. It will have a built up area of about 125,000 square meters.

The bidders include Arabian Construction Company, Kettaneh Construction, Matta & Associates, Michel Abi Nader Entreprises, Societe d’Entreprises Abdel Rahman Hourie, Societe d’Entreprise & de Gestion, all local, UAE based Arabtec Construction, the local Qualco in a JV with UAE based Alec and the local Jihad al Arab with Saudi Arabia’s Al Saad General Contracting Company.

Germany’s Bauer is the piling contractor. The consultant is the Lebanese Samir Khairallah & Partners. UK based Davis Langdon is the quantity surveyor. The project is part of USD 4 billion program to expand MAF’s shopping malls division outside its core markets of the UAE and Kuwait. The developer is planning to build two shopping centers in Syria and a third in Saudi Arabia.

MAF is also increasing its presence in its home market. It expects to open its Mirdif City Centre mall in Dubai in the Q1 of 2010. Alec is working on the USD 708 million main construction contracts for the mall.

(Sourced from MEED)