The Mall of Oman is going ahead right on track as two major infrastructural milestones were recently completed. The mall is being developed by the Dubai based Majid Al Futtaim group, and it will be its fifth and largest lifestyle destination in the country.
The developers have been involved with a number of major lifestyle and infrastructural construction projects all over the Middle East and North African regions. They have recently reported the completion of two of its infrastructural milestones. One of these milestones was the completion of a set of flyovers and a road network that would connect the facility to the Muscat Expressway.
The developers undertook an extensive road upgrade to avoid potential traffic chaos and to provide easy access to the new facility. A network of new roads has been laid down that connects the mall to interchange 6, which lies on the Muscat Expressway. This will make access to the mall more convenient and seamless for the mall visitors as it will make room for 5,200 dedicated parking bays. The 12 metre-high retaining walls have been erected for over a kilometer while the road directional signage for the mall has also been put in place.
The other infrastructural milestone that has been completed involved the installation of a primary sub-station by the Muscat Electricity Distribution Company (MEDC). The MEDC primary substation will progressively power the nine distribution substations across the facility. This was a significant milestone in the construction process as it will power the central air conditioning plant which needs to be in place as soon as the structure is erected. The mall is going to be the fifth of such construction projects by the developer within Oman. The mall is slated to open to the public in March 2021.
The mall that is in the making has been touted to be the first and the largest lifestyle facility of its kind to be established in the Sultanate. It spreads across an expansive area, covering 145,000 square metres, which will offer dining outlets, retail spaces, and a diverse range of lifestyle experiences. There will also be a VOX Cinema – the largest in Oman, a dedicated family entertainment facility tentatively called the “Magic Planet”, the largest snow park facility and a Carrefour hypermarket.
The developers understand the economical significance of the development of such lifestyle facilities across the Sultanate. As most of the gulf countries are trying to wean off their oil dependency, the retail and tourism sectors serve an increasingly important role in the economy. Oman’s economy is largely dependent on its retail and tourism potential to drive future economic growth.
The developer’s investments are very much in line with the country’s economic plans and trajectory. A mall of this scale and stature will create a lot of employment both through the construction phase and beyond it. Furthermore, such a facility will boost the retail sector as well as help boost the local tourism potential with all the lifestyle facilities and experiences it offers.
