Pure commercial plays are a sideline of real estate development in Lebanon when compared with the country’s mixed-use projects, and when measured against large-scale commercial projects elsewhere in the region, like upcoming new mega-malls in the Gulf and Egypt. Malls specialist Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) from the United Arab Emirates is taking its first Lebanese retail project into the home stretch as it is readying the Beirut City Centre mall for its opening in March. With 62,000 square meters (sqm) of gross leasable area, the property represents a major addition to commercial real estate in Lebanon. Executive talked about MAF’s strategy with Sleiman Mallat, senior mall manager for MAF Properties Lebanon. Why do we need another shopping mall in Lebanon? According to the studies that were done in Lebanon, the Lebanese market is underserved with shopping malls. That is why we need to build this shopping mall: to complement the
