Business News: Ten upcoming malls at a cost of $1.5 billion
Ten shopping centers will open in the coming three years. They will be located in Beirut, Saida, Tyre, the Bekaa, Byblos, and Jounieh, according to Nabil Gebrael, the regional representative to Lebanon of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and the Middle East Council of Shopping Centers (MECSC).
Gebrael said: “There are 12 existing malls with a gross leasable area (GLA) of about 416,000 square meters. The new malls will add 605,000 m2 of GLA, at a cost of $1.2-$1.5 billion.
David Macadam, CEO of MECSC, said that a great year is coming for shopping centers. The GLA per capita will rise from 0.1 to 0.26 m2, once the new projects have been completed. “This is still below international industry standards. There is room for growth,” said Gebrael.
The Dubai-based MECSC is part of the ICSC. Since its inception in 1994, it has grown to more than 750 members in 17 Arab countries. Established in 1957, the New York-based ICSC includes more than 60,000 members in the shopping center industry in 100 countries.
Reported by Walid Merhi