Sahara Centre in Sharjah will undergo a massive Dh4 billion ($1 billion) expansion that will see the emirate’s landmark shopping mall more than double its present size to create a whole new city within a city.

Seven new towers consisting residential, commercial, hotel suites, parking lots and an expanded shopping mall have been planned for what is being called a “city within a city”. Ground enabling work on the expansion project, dubbed Sahara City, is expected to start soon with tenders for the various works being issued in phases starting since last month. Six towers will be built on both sides of the existing Sahara Centre and one will be built opposite the mall with a connecting pedestrian bridge for easy access to the mall.
Architect Khatib and Alami which is also the consultant for the project has designed Sahara City which, according to a spokesman, is expected to be completed in January 2009. As well as increasing the size of the largest mall in Sharjah by 60 per cent to 1.8 million sq ft, the Sahara City project will see the construction of the seven new towers ranging in height from 27 to 33 floors, nearly half a million sq ft of new office space, 23 floors of parking and a 27-floor hotel suites.
The project includes expanding the ground, first and second floors of the mall by half a million sq ft in order to meet the current demand for retail space in Sahara Centre and allow exciting new international brands to become part of the Sahara Centre experience. It will also enable Sahara Centre’s signature attraction Adventureland to double in size.
Above the mall will be a hotel tower offering 258 serviced suites and three new residential towers with more than 1,000 apartments – consisting of both two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments. A word-class standard fully equipped sports gym, leisure centres, indoor tennis courts and basketball courts, swimming pools and children’s play areas will service these towers.
In order to cope with the increased number of visitors and the residents of Sahara City, parking spaces in and around the mall will more than quadruple in number to 4,500.
The extensive building project will be located in the vacant lot near the Marks and Spencer side of Sahara Centre. Other components of the Sahara City developments include three other towers, the West Gate Twin Towers and the North Gate Tower. The West Gate Twin Towers, to be located on the Debenhams side of Sahara Centre, will have 14 floors for offices, 20 residential floors with 200 apartments, and a multi-storey car park of 1,000 parking spaces.
The North Gate Tower, containing a further 220 apartments and a multi-storey car park for the mall, is planned opposite Sahara Centre. It will also include a new Dh3 million covered pedestrian bridge across the busy highway linking it to the mall.