#PROJECT: BURJUMAN RENOVATION

Dubaiiscool:) · May 16th, 2011, 12:26 PM

BurJuman Announces Major Renovation

May 16, 2011

Farah Ibrahim

Redevelopment to extend retail area to over 1 million square feet and add key new anchor tenants to boost retail and entertainment offering

BurJuman announced the start of major renovation works to its North wing, as part of its ongoing commitment to offer retail tenants and customers an enhanced shopping and entertainment experience.

The renovation phases are due to be rolled out over the coming 18-24 months, with initial MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing) work commencing immediately and structural work commencing in the last quarter of 2011. The renovation will be carried out in stages to ensure minimal disruption to the mall's normal operational activities during the entire period.

The renovations aim at extending and architecturally unifying the mall's physical space as well as enhancing the shopping and entertainment experience, with the addition of new anchor tenants, including a major grocery store and multiplex cinema.

Key elements include the addition of a fourth floor cinema complex and the extension of the third floor family entertainment area to include an extended food court. Following the renovations, the food court will be doubled in size and link directly to the Pavillion Gardens in the mall's South wing. Several new F&B brands are expected to join BurJuman's current dining offering.

In addition, the mall's north exterior entrance is set to be completely redesigned and an al fresco dining area added to the wing.

Several new luxury, high-street and high fashion brands are expected to join the mall's prestigious retail portfolio, including brands exclusive to BurJuman in the UAE as well as a few exciting regional debuts.

BurJuman's total retail area will be increased to over 1 million square feet from the current 800,000 square feet once the renovation phases have been finalized.

"We have executed a series of extensions and renovations over the years, and each phase has helped enhance our offering and meet the changing needs of our customers and the desires of our tenants. The addition of high-traffic tenants such as a major grocery store and cinema are expected to further drive footfall and round off our current retail portfolio," said Majid Al-Ghurair, President of BurJuman.

"Visitors not only look at malls as places to shop but as a complete entertainment destination. We have planned for some time now to add to our family entertainment offering and the extension of the play area and addition of a multiplex cinema will be a major step in this direction. In addition, new fashion and F&B brands coming on board will offer visitors greater versatility and increased options each time they pay us a visit," he added.

The upcoming renovation plans build on BurJuman's most recent enhancements completed in early 2009, which included the construction of 34,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space on the mall's ground floor, including a redesigned exterior façade, and a direct main entrance from Khalid Bin Al Walid Street and the adjoining Dubai Metro Station.

http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20110516101806

Face81 · May 16th, 2011, 01:12 PM

The North wing was in desperate need of a facelift!

Good find!

THE DUBAI GUYS · May 16th, 2011, 03:14 PM

the "north wing" was looking kinda dated...and good they are putting a cineplex there! but I do hope they keep those fountains...the ones that shoot water in the air over a small walkway...it will remind ppl of Burjuman's past.

R

***AltinD*** · May 16th, 2011, 03:22 PM

BTW, I haven't been able to see what Al Futtaim is building on their plot, after they dmolished the old Sanyo building.

Face81 · May 16th, 2011, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AltinD

BTW, I haven't been able to see what Al Futtaim is building on their plot, after they dmolished the old Sanyo building.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AltinD

LOL, didn't the original plans of the extension included a Cineplex? And of course, to make room for the extension, they removed the Lal's Supermarket that was there priory.

A Supermarket/Hypermarket will definitelly help, as will help an extension of the parking and converting it to the same scedule as that of the other malls: 4 hours of free parking.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AltinD

BTW, I haven't been able to see what Al Futtaim is building on their plot, after they dmolished the old Sanyo building.

Altin, I have never seen you get so excited about a project before!

I expect LOTS of updates from you

***AltinD*** · May 16th, 2011, 03:29 PM

LOL, didn't the original plans of the extension included a Cineplex? And of course, to make room for the extension, they removed the Lal's Supermarket that was there priory.

A Supermarket/Hypermarket will definitelly help, as will help an extension of the parking and converting it to the same scedule as that of the other malls: 4 hours of free parking.

***AltinD*** · May 16th, 2011, 03:30 PM

BTW, I haven't been able to see what Al Futtaim is building on their plot, after they dmolished the old Sanyo building.

Face81 · May 31st, 2011, 02:37 PM

Here's more detail on what is actually planned

Quote:

BurJuman plans to expand entertainment offerings

Dubai: BurJuman has announced an expansion plan of more than Dh370 million in a bid to reposition itself against newer, mega-sized challengers at a time when the local retail sector is still decidedly soft.

As part of the phased transformation, BurJuman Centre will work more diligently on its entertainment offerings, which will see the creation of an eight-screen cinema complex.

The tenant mix will also be put through a major shakeup, with the promoters looking to draw in as many as 100 new brands to its outlets.

But achieving change in the business of retail — and more so in mall management — can be daunting. Can BurJuman turn the clock back and regain some of the sheen it lost in the last two years?

For Eisa Adam Ebrahim, the general manager, there are no such doubts. And he outlines why it is so.

Isn't it a fact that BurJuman's location has proved a disadvantage in the recent past? More so with many mega malls opening in New Dubai?

Certainly, there's some truth to this. It's no secret that there's been a shift of demographics — especially of the high-end base — from this part of Dubai to neighbourhoods in New Dubai.

But having said that, people are still living in this area and a number of good apartments are still being built here. So are three- and four-star hotels that bring in the tourist-shoppers. Let's not overlook their spending powers.

Dubai's road infrastructure has changed dramatically in the last two years. You don't get to see any of the traffic jams that were so common when all the new roads were being built.

Getting to any location is not difficult any more, and that holds true for any shopper planning to visit BurJuman. I don't think our location is a disadvantage. If anything, it works in our favour — that of being at the very heart of the city.

But hasn't there been an erosion in your visitor numbers?

There was an erosion of... 20 per cent since 2008, which was recorded during the worst phase of 2009. But now we see the numbers coming back in our favour and currently it's 10 per cent off the peak. There were many reasons for this — the competition, the economic crisis that hit tourist traffic, the road works, etc.

So, what's being attempted with the latest expansion? Is it about getting that exclusivity back?

We want to give the most boutique kind of feel for the high-end shopper who wants ease of access, of parking and [the ability to move] within the mall. There's a certain class of shopper who does not want to walk kilometres within a mall to get to the shop of his choice. And then have to walk all the way back.

But why go for an expansion now? Doesn't the state of the market suggest caution should be the prime consideration?

For tenants who stood by us through all the challenges, it's our obligation to add a new look and feel and create more excitement.

From an investment point of view, we should be running with it, not [placing] everything on hold.

Is the tenant mix going to change?

To be the boutique kind-of retail offering, we have to. Of the 350 stores, there will be 100 new boutiques that are distinctly high end, of international origin and very niche.

Some of these brands are already available in Dubai at other locations. Many of them had in the past approached us and we could not accommodate them. Now we want to bring together all these scattered brands under our roof. We want to make a grab for them, but we need to have a look and feel to the mall that will make our offering even more attractive.

As for the other brands, we will go to the fashion weeks in London, Milan and New York to see which brands can be brought over to Dubai. Mind you, there will always be some. Fashion is one business where rankings change all the time. This is what we did five years ago at the time of the earlier expansion. You could say we have the experience and know-how to do it all over again.

We were successful in bringing Saks Fifth Avenue and Versace then; I don't see why we can't do something similar now.

Are you creating space for more outlets?

We will maintain the current 350 odd, but bring in the 100 new boutique brands.

Wouldn't it mean some of the existing tenants would have to make way?

This is the nature of the business. For us, the state of the market creates a good opportunity to change the tenant mix. It would have been difficult to change anything if the market was on a high.

At the same time, some of the existing tenants would leave on their own for reasons that could do with the current traffic to the mall, their sales volumes, etc. Even for them, it's an opportunity to seek change.

As I said before, it's very similar to the fashion business. Something new has to be attempted at all times.

Will the latest expansion integrate the Metro much more closely?

Even now the Metro station is just a few metres away from us. But the renovation will acknowledge the Metro's presence even more. It's part of the design.

Wasn't it the case that cinema was never meant to be part of BurJuman's offer mix? Why now?

We never shied away from that. It was part of the mall's design for years now and was just a matter of time before we took it up. But when we went through the last major expansion in 2003, the market was in a great shape. The facility was generating substantial revenues and we did not want to disturb the status quo at the time.

We will have eight screens on the fourth floor. Three operators are in the running to manage this. We are working on creating an offering that would still be different from others already in the marketplace.

We are adding other entertainment options as well; the challenge is to create an ideal children's entertainment centre. It will be more about edutainment; if it's pure entertainment, other malls are already providing it. But we had to bring something new and have shortlisted two operators.

Your previous expansion went through a major delay. How will you ensure it will not happen this time?

We have to make use of our experience from the last one. What led to the delay was it was a mixed-use project we were attempting then by creating the offices and residences.

The delay was a bad experience. This time we are going ahead with a conventional kind of design; we have well-defined timelines for each phase of construction.

What sort of investments will the latest expansion entail?

It would be about Dh370 million-Dh375 million. It will be a mix of bank finance and our own funds.

By going in for construction now, we aim to keep the costs on the lower side. Construction is almost on hold in the city.

We are negotiating with three candidates, one of which is an international name.

By August or September, we should be ready to announce the winner and then start construction in the fourth quarter.

There has been some speculation that Saks Fifth Avenue might leave. Is there any truth to this?

Not true. We have had a longstanding relationship with the local operator of Saks and will continue to have one.

How many anchor tenants will there be after the latest expansion? You are also bringing in a supermarket operator, aren't you?

There will be three anchors as against two now. There will be a supermarket, because these days you see the format even in a high-end mall offering. This was introduced in this part of the world.

Even now your rentals are among the highest in the market place. Do you see that changing slightly?

We definitely don't have the highest rental in the market any more.

We are working closely with tenants to ensure their interests and their bottom-line are taken care of through extended rent-free periods and other incentives.

These are challenging times and as a mall operator we need to keep this in mind.

Having said that, we are still among the top-tier malls in the region in terms of lease rates and for the experience we offer.

What we are embarking on now will ensure that standing remains.

Source

Face81 · July 6th, 2011, 10:36 AM

A full feasibility and development study is currently underway. That's all I can say........

THE DUBAI GUYS · July 7th, 2011, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Face81

A full feasibility and development study is currently underway. That's all I can say........

well as long as its going ahead so thats good...and u have deets on this dont u...

R

Face81 · July 7th, 2011, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by THE DUBAI GUYS

well as long as its going ahead so thats good...and u have deets on this dont u...

R

Deets?

Yes, it's going ahead

THE DUBAI GUYS · July 7th, 2011, 10:30 AM

details...

R

Face81 · July 7th, 2011, 11:16 AM

Actually I don't know very much more than what I have said..... yet

Anyway, here are some pics from Shyaman, from another thread.....

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