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A slip-road into Janibaya and Saar off the Saudi Highway is all set to become a day-trip playground for ‘our cousins over the causeway’ as construction work on two major mall developments gathers pace.
The signs are up that leasing is now taking place at the Atrium Mall & Towers, which already boasts a planned giant Lulu and cinema complex, whereas across the road the Kingdom Mall will feature go kart and ice skating arenas as well as its own hypermarket.
The area has already been nicknamed ‘Saudi Corner’ and a source close to one of the investors told GulfWeekly: “It will have everything our cousins from across the causeway love - racing and shopping - as well as the chance to chill either by ice-skating or watching a movie!
“The best thing about this location is that it’s so close to the causeway that we’ll be enticing a whole new sector of tourists apart from the regular weekend visitors – the day-trippers, especially after the early-evening rush hour when the causeway quietens. And they won’t have to travel all the way into Manama to have fun!”
Extensive plans are underway to expand and improve the King Fahd Causeway which opened in 1986 linking the kingdom to Saudi Arabia and remains the only land link Bahrain has with the outside world.
The aim is to increase the number of border control booths which should make the crossing easier for motorists and quicker too.
Massive development is already happening at a fast pace with apartments blocks, villas and small business units springing along Avenue 27, which has recently undergone widening near the El Mercado Janabiya retail centre. This development got a head start on the proposed malls and is forging on with building its accompanying El Mercado Village luxury villas.
Amin Al Arrayed, First Bahrain’s chief executive officer, right, the company behind the Spanish-themed development, said: “We are encouraged by the recent developments in our area and the much improved road access from the highway.”
“The new commercial developments are welcome as they will undoubtedly bring additional foot-fall to the area. We are in coordination with Atrium and are encouraged by their offerings which complement El Mercado and I am sure that Kingdom Mall will have some major attractions to add to the area.
“El Mercado’s positioning remains unchanged; the friendly neighbourhood mall that caters to the residents of the area, but I am sure that our position as a tourist destination will be enhanced once the Saudi tourists start to come into the area and our relative small size and unique F&B concepts will make us an attractive destination and we remain confident in the sustainability of our mall amidst the new players and new developments.
“Our numbers at the mall have been encouraging. We have maintained 100 per cent occupancy since we opened last November and we now have a waiting list of interested business that are ready to take up space if it becomes available.
“Our foot fall has been steady with a weekly average of around 17,000 visitors to the mall during the warmer months and we hope to reach an average of 20,000 per week once the cooler weather comes in and our positioning as an open-air mall turns to our advantage.
“Our residential project, El Mercado Village, is moving ahead as planned with 52 per cent of the construction now completed and we are well on schedule to achieve 100 per cent completion by the year end. Handover of the villas to the home-owners is expected in March 2018. We now have a show villa ready for viewing which has helped us sell 26 per cent of the 42 units to date which is very encouraging.”
The Atrium Mall & Towers will comprise of a three-storey mall, a 10-storey residential tower and a 10-storey commercial tower. It will be anchored by the hypermarket and cinema complex along with various retail and restaurant offerings.
It will be the largest shopping mall in the Northern Governorate of the kingdom. The $30m mall is expected to be completed by the end of 2017 spearheaded by Al Namal Group, one of Bahrain’s leading diversified companies with interests covering real estate, property development and management, construction and health and hospitality.
GulfWeekly’s sister business news information service Trade Arabia last summer reported the signing of an agreement with Zamil Air Conditioners for the supply of air-conditioning solutions at Atrium Mall. Al Namal and VKL Group chairman and managing director Varghese Kurian said: “We believe in the importance of playing a vital role in facilitating a healthy spending structure for the community, thus enriching the Bahrain economy.”
Eastern Precast (Eastern Asphalt and Mixed Concrete Co) recently announced the award of a new precast project for the proposed Kingdom Mall at Janabiya from main contractors Dadabhai Construction.
