The 1.7 million square foot Sowwah Central will link with The Galleria, a luxury mall that opened in August, when it opens in 2017. Above, a rendering of Sowwah Central. Courtesy Gulf Related
The 1.7 million square foot Sowwah Central will link with The Galleria, a luxury mall that opened in August, when it opens in 2017. Above, a rendering of Sowwah Central. Courtesy Gulf Related

Business

Al Maryah Island’s Sowwah Central aims to be launchpad mall for brands debuting in Gulf

Sowwah Central, an upcoming mall on Al Maryah Island, will be where retail brands new to the region choose to launch, according to the developer behind the project.

Gillian Duncan
Gillian Duncan

October 30, 2013

Sowwah Central, an upcoming mall on Al Maryah Island, will be where retail brands new to the region choose to launch, according to the developer behind the project.

The 1.7 million square foot centre, which will link with The Galleria, a luxury mall that opened in August, is due to open in 2017.

“This will be the shopping centre where brands new to the region will gravitate, without question,” said Kenneth Himmel, the co-managing partner of Gulf Related, a partnership between Gulf Capital and Related.

“It’s the highest quality and it satisfies a very important dynamic about coming to Abu Dhabi. By locating in this shopping centre you don’t have to go to five locations. It’s so central and so accessible.”

Construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of next year but the developer is already close to signing deals for centre’s two department stores, one of which will be a United States-based brand that has never opened an store outside the country.

In total, the developer is in negotiation for about 75 per cent of the space in the mall, which will include high street brands such as H&M, Zara and Massimo Dutti.

“We have [made] presentations to everyone, both in the US and here and as you know, all these brands to come here are in the hands of a local operator, Azadea, Apparel UAE, Al Tayer, Chalhoub,” said Mr Himmel. European brands have had a presence in the UAE for many years, but now more US companies are setting up in the country, he said.

“You are going see Abercrombie. You will see a lot of the brands coming here. Apple will start doing its own stores.”

The mall will feature a large selection of food and beverage and a family entertainment centre that could be different from anything else already on offer in the UAE.

“We have some very interesting people we are talking to because we have a lot of experience with this sort of thing in the US,” said Mr Himmel.

“Just to use as an example, we have relationships with a lot of the networks so this is not someone who is coming. But as an example we have a working relationship with Disney and Marvel. We can work on brands and intellectual property uses and actually work on bringing some uses here that are pretty unique. We are in dialogue with people about that,” he added.

Sowwah Central is one of two major malls due to launch in Abu Dhabi in 2017, the other being The District on Saadiyat Island.

gduncan@thenational.ae

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Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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