QATAR-BASED UrbaCon Trading and Contracting (UCC) is developing a mammoth mall project in Doha, Qatar, at a cost of over QR3 billion ($823.2 million).

Featuring more than 400 stores, fine dining and world-class entertainment, the Mall of Qatar is expected to be one of the region’s leading shopping and leisure destinations when it opens in the third quarter of 2015.

Unveiling the project plans, the developer UCC said the construction on the complex has been under way since 2012 and is proceeding as per schedule.

Conveniently located at the intersection of Al Rayyan Highway and Celebration Road, the project is adjacent to the Al Rayyan Sports Club and a future Fifa 2022 World Cup Stadium. And once complete, it will become “the place to be” for residents and visitors alike, with an estimated 20 million customers anticipated annually, said the developer.

A dedicated metro station integrated into the mall, as part of Doha’s new transportation system, will give all of Doha and surrounding regions good access to the mall.

Over 162,000 sq m of retail leasable space on three levels will make it one of Qatar’s largest shopping and entertainment destinations. In addition to the metro, the project will provide spacious parking for more than 7,000 cars in its brightly-lit underground and lushly landscaped surface and preferred valet parking lots.

One of the major distinguishing architectural features of the Mall of Qatar is a three-storey-high sophisticated urban-lifestyle market place running the full length of the centre spine. The area, which is three football fields long with vaulted glass ceiling, opens out into a four-storey-high, central amphitheatre with a massive domed roof, called the Oasis, featuring themed restaurants, fine dining and fun food experiences on all sides, family entertainment and multiplex cinemas.

Spread over a building area which is the equivalent size of 50 Fifa football pitches, the mall will have a major hypermarket, five department stores, 20 international restaurants and an indoor streetscape with double height flagship stores from across the globe.

A two-level luxury court at the south end of the complex will have individually articulated shopfronts interspersed with indoor/outdoor cafes and patios and a premium concierge lounge.

The Mall of Qatar has been designed by internationally acclaimed architects Chapman Taylor and KEO.