Villaggio and City Center Doha are two of Qatar’s most trafficked shopping destinations, according to a new report from global real estate consultancy CBRE.

Each day, Villaggio and City Center witness an average of around 46,000 and 45,000 footfalls respectively, the firm said in its H1 2016 Qatar MarketView last week.

This means that despite the economic slowdown, these malls and others around town continue to enjoy relative stability and high occupancy rates.

However, it forecast that competition is going to rise rapidly in the near future.

This is because close to 1.27 million square meters of gross leasable area will be coming online soon.

New era

In a statement, Mat Green, Head of Research & Consulting UAE, CBRE Middle East, said the supply equates to around 83 percent of current retail stock, and will drive down rental rates across Qatar.

He added:

“Aging centers are likely to suffer the most as game changing centers such as Doha Festival City and Mall of Qatar attract customers from existing centers.”
DFC will open in February 2017, while Mall of Qatar is gearing up for an October 2016 launch.

Their openings are likely to usher in a new era of over-saturation, CBRE concluded.

Source: dohanews.co