Retail spaces connecting the Gold Souk: Ithra Dubai’s Deira Enchantment Project aims to give the industry a fillip

The Retail Jeweller World Dubai Forum 2021 not only catered to the industry’s most pertinent questions about retail, but had a partner who could solve the burning issue of more retail spaces too

The gem and jewellery sector does not only function on the cogs that are the designers, manufacturers and retailers, who form an essential part of the supply chain. Although Covid has ensured that the traditional industry quickly embarks on its digital journey, the need for touch-and-feel will never really go away.

This prompts a valid need — that of more retail spaces. To address this, Ithra Dubai, the co-presenting partners of the Retail Jeweller World Dubai Forum 2021, took to stage to take the audience through the makings of its Deira Enrichment Project.

Ithra Dubai is the real estate arm of the Investment Corporation of Dubai. Formed in 2016, it is Dubai’s powerhouse landowner, developer and operator. Its job is to transforming the legacies of the past to the landmarks of the future.

Since 2016, Ithra has developed and managed strategic sectors, enriched societies, and brought value to communities, both for the people of Dubai and those beyond the border. Ithra Dubai’s rich portfolio of projects is designed to embrace diversity, shape happy communities, and bring prosperity to many through and array of local and international projects. The portfolio of real-estate projects delivers mixed-use, inclusive communities, commercial, residential, leisure and retail spaces and quality hospitality and education facilities.

The star of the presentation was the Diera Enrichment Project, which was detailed out by Mark Curtis, the leasing manager of Ithra Dubai.

“The project merges the old and new, and is expected to regenerate the commercial heart of Dubai. It is designed to ensure seamless connectivity, is 9km from the airport and 15km from the iconic Burj Khalifa, and 27km from Burj Al Arab,” he said.

The project will have more than 700 shops, 721,182 square feet of office spaces, 2,200 residential units, 1,450 hotel rooms across eight properties, more than 8,000 parking spaces, over 10 community plazas and neighbourhood parks, more than 40 restaurants, two metro stations, healthcare services, a new extension to the gold souk, banking and exchange services in a controlled selling environment. It has a progressive design inspired by the Emirati heritage.

“A key part of the project is the gold souk extension that will seamlessly connect to the old one. This will provide a 176 retail shops to jewellers. We intend to work in tandem with the heritage of Dubai. It will have spacious showrooms with world-class security. There is easy metro access. We have added bridges to the buildings to ease the trade for the wholesalers. All of them are in the final stages of completion and in the final stages of handover. Areas above the Shindagha tunnel will create much-needed open spaces. Our marketing team has constantly been working to promote this project and to promote your businesses,” said Curtis. 

He ended his presentation with the news that 289 residential apartments in the Deira Enrichment Project will be leased out this month, and jewellers who are looking for spaces to accommodate their staff or themselves can now contact the real-estate giant.

Courtesy: Retail Jeweller World News