Middle East's first eco-friendly mall to open in Oman

Oman’s largest family entertainment centre – Al Araimi Boulevard – will be ready in September, 2018.

The new shopping mall, which is coming up in an area of 147,000 square metres at Al Khoud, will have 250 shops, ten modern cinema halls, 20 diversified restaurants and 3,000 car parking space, Sheikh Raid Abdullah Ali Al Araimi, vice-chairman of Al Raid Group, told journalists on the sidelines of a field visit. 

Developed by Al Raid Group in cooperation with Design International and Kaosys, the mall has a total lease area of 70,500 square metres. As much as 40 per cent of the work on the mega mall is complete now and the total investment for the project is estimated at OMR62 million.

“We will have the largest food court ever-built in Oman, with a capacity to accommodate more than 1,000 people in 20 diversified restaurants,” added Sheikh Al Araimi. “We will also have an outdoor area with beautiful landscape, which allows signature restaurants to open their outlets.”

Sheikh Al Araimi highlighted that construction work has begun in July, 2016 and the work is progressing as per the plan. “Works go as scheduled, and we look forward to the future with all optimism for more new projects that contribute to the march of development in Oman”, he added.

Referring to the reason for selecting Al Khoud for building the mall, Sheikh Al Araimi said that the concentration of population is high in the area and 50 per cent of the people are below 30 years.

Innovative vision

The project is based on Al Raid Group’s innovative vision to bring to Oman a value addition to the sector of shopping and entertainment. With completion, the mall will host many international brands and world class facilities for entertainment to make the shopping experience a unique one.

For example, the entertainment area stretches over 6,000sqm and provided with modern 10 screen-cinemas, the largest food court hosting 20 restaurants.

The mall will have two floors of retail space, with a rooftop parking for accommodating 3,000 vehicles. According to the recommendations of Design International, the new mall will establish for a new concept of shopping based on deep understanding for client needs.

The project adopts the latest technologies. To name a few, there will be a special application for the mall that can be used through all smart phones. Using this application, the shoppers can know where is the available parking lots, reserve tables at the restaurant, make orders, receive smart bills and know the latest offers.

Moreover, the mall is supported with many other services, such as the hand free shopping, gift wrapping and helping at parking, to make sure the shoppers fell comfortable and enjoy their experience.

The glass dome that is supported with solar panels lets the day light inside and - at the same time- re-uses the solar energy as a sustainable source of power. Apart from the clean energy, the mall is to adopt recycling systems and eco-operating systems to be the first environment-friendly mall in Oman. The developer did not spare effort to offer the latest trends and attitudes of shopping all over the world to the shoppers. The mall has been exceptionally designed to be the best go-gathering for individuals and families.

Al Raid Group was founded in 1974 with its founder Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali al Araimi whose vision is to develop real estate projects of international standards to support the economic development in Oman.

Source: Timesofoman