MARAKEZ for Real Estate Investment, one of the largest mall developers and operators in Egypt, acquired a new land plot in Mansoura to develop a new commercial mall, with investments of 1.4 billion Egyptian pounds ($80.8 million). The commercial mall will serve as a regional retail, dining, and entertainment hub meeting the needs of residents in the Delta region including the 7 million people living in Dakahlia. "MARAKEZ's expansion plans materialize into the company's full-scale success. Going beyond primary cities and establishing developments that are at the heart and soul of the communities is what we aim for" said its chief executive Basil Ramzy. "We continue to pioneer the real estate development market in Egypt by expanding our commercial footprint to meet the commercial needs of millions of people in secondary governorates," he added. Due to open in 2021, the new mall will feature a hypermarket, a Cineplex, a food court, dining and entertainment areas, local and international fashion brands served by 1500 parking spots. This is in addition to the 10,000 direct and indirect job opportunities it will create throughout its development. "We are honored to introduce an internationally-modeled shopping mall in the city of Mansoura," said Ahmed Badrawi, Executive Vice Chairman of MARAKEZ. "These areas are in need of tangible development and investment to serve the necessities of the local population. With the new project, MARAKEZ is helping develop these under-served areas, meet the growing demand on retail services in secondary cities, provide thousands of job opportunities and create value to these cities." The new mall in Mansoura is the second commercial development MARAKEZ has undertaken in the Delta region. Mall of Tanta, due to open later this year, is the first internationally modeled mall in any of Egypt's secondary governorates occupying over 135,000 million square metres, with 60,000 million square metres built-up area and with 40,000 million square metres of gross leasable area, with investment of 1.2 billion pounds. MARAKEZ is implementing a strategic investment plan in Egypt of more than 15 billion pounds focusing on key projects in Cairo and other governorates.
