The skyline above Seef District is a maze of cranes heralding the rise of a BD250 million ($663 million) multi-faceted development, which will boast the first integrated entertainment and leisure complex in Bahrain and also feature the country’s largest shopping mall laced by towering hotels and a state-of-the-art water park.

A total of 14 tower cranes – the largest number of cranes on a single project in Bahrain – dominate the horizon at the Bahrain City Centre site, according to a spokesman for Cebarco-WCT, the main contractor. The project also hosts the first luffing crane to be used in the country.
The contractor has been working at a feverish pitch on the various aspects of the complex under a BD128 million ($339 million) main contract.
As the project was still on the look-out for a main contractor at this time last year, it probably comes as a surprise that the UAE-based property developer Majid Al Futtaim Investments has targeted to have the entire development completed by mid-2008.
Cebarco-WCT started mobilising for the fast-track project last March and is expected to complete the complex, which involves a built-up area of around 500,000 sq m, within a construction period of 28 months.
“We currently have a total of around 2,500 workers on site, working on extended shifts on some aspects of the project. Work is progressing on schedule and we expect to complete the superstructure of all the buildings by the third quarter of 2007,” he adds.
Cebarco-WCT has subcontracted the BD40 million ($106 million) electromechanical contract to India’s Voltas, a Tata Group company, and expects to award further subcontracts over the course of this year.
With this mega development, Majid Al Futtaim Investments is introducing the highly successful City Centre shopping, entertainment and leisure brand to Bahrain. The project involves the construction of a three-level mixed-use regional shopping and leisure centre, which will house over 350 stores in total, offering the best in fashion and entertainment choices.
Offering a gross leasable area of 150,000 sq m, the centre will have a contemporary design with traditional elements and high-quality finishes and will feature a string of “firsts” and the “biggests” for Bahrain including:
• First entertainment, shopping and leisure resort in Bahrain;
• Biggest shopping centre in Bahrain;
• Biggest indoor/outdoor water park in the Middle East;
• Biggest cinema complex in the region; and
• First Carrefour hypermarket in Bahrain, covering 16,600 sq m.
The centre will devote almost 25,000 sq m of space to entertainment and leisure facilities which is around 17 per cent of its gross leasable area. It will house the biggest indoor/outdoor water park in the region spread over an area of 12,000 sq m, a 20-screen Cineco Cinema covering 8,000 sq m and Magic Planet, a family entertainment centre for children and young adults and a 10-pin bowling centre over an area of 5,600 sq m.
The facility will also have two hotels – one four-star and the other five-star – with 550 rooms in total that will be directly linked to the mall. The five-star hotel will be operated by the Kempinski luxury hotel chain of Germany, while the four-star hotel will be under the City Centre’s own brand but will be managed by Kempinski.
The complex will feature a massive seven-level car-parking area with a capacity for 5,500 vehicles, leading directly into the mall. Mohamed Salahuddin Consulting Engineering Bureau (MSCEB) is undertaking the architectural detail design on the car-park as well as the four-star hotel building.
Some of the world’s renowned brands and biggest entertainment and leisure offers in the country have already signed up with the Bahrain City Centre, setting the stage for it to become the island’s premier retail complex and a must-see destination for both residents and tourists when it opens next year. According to MAF Malls, which will operate the mall, 82 per cent of the 150,000 sq m shopping mall – including a total of 200 stores – has already been leased out.
The Bahrain City Centre will comprise 45,000 sq m of major anchor stores for many international and exclusive brands such as Saks 5th Avenue, H&M, Aizone, Debenhams, Centre Point, Home Centre, Paris Gallery, Zara, Mango, Massimo Dutti, and other leading fashion houses.
“By securing these top brand names, Bahrain City Centre will be the country’s leading shopping centre in terms of size, variety of offerings and the strength of the brands it houses,” says Graham Dreverman, CEO of MAF Shopping Malls.
“The Bahrain City Centre’s success is assured as it will cater not only to local demands, but also to those of visitors from other GCC countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. Bahrain’s strategic location at the centre of the Gulf makes it an ideal place for such a major shopping and leisure destination,” he continues.
Maher Al Shaer, general manager of Bahrain City Centre, comments: “Shoppers in Bahrain are looking for a ‘one-stop-shopping and leisure experience with international brands to meet the needs of everyone in the family. This facility, which will strengthen Bahrain’s position as a regional shopping destination, is aiming to attract over 15 million shoppers and visitors a year and is sure to put Bahrain on the map as a major shopping, leisure and entertainment destination for the region.”
Bahrain City Centre will also have one of the largest concentrations of food outlets and restaurants under one roof in the region housing around 54 food and beverage units spread over 9,700 sq m which will provide for a variety of culinary tastes. This will include 11 coffee shops, 13 restaurants, 21 food court units and nine smaller food and beverage outlets.
 “Bahrain City Centre is destined to do for Bahrain, what developments such as Deira City Centre and the Mall of the Emirates have done for Dubai, in establishing the country as a retail destination with appeal across the region and beyond,” says Francois de Montaudouin, CEO of MAF Group.
MAF Shopping Malls is the leading manager and developer of shopping centres in the Middle East and North Africa. The company is part of MAF Properties, one of the major operating subsidiaries of the MAF Group, which already has seven operating centres totalling 500,000 sq m of gross leasable area comprising four centres in the UAE, two in Egypt and one in Oman.
Over the past 11 years, MAF Shopping Malls world-class shopping centres has initiated a number of breakthrough developments in Dubai such as Ski Dubai (the first indoor ski resort), the Mall of the Emirates (the first shopping resort in the Middle East)  and the popular City Centre franchise that has been exported across the region to Egypt and Muscat.