The consortium developing Abu Dhabi’s $1.2bn Reem Mall has confirmed the appointment of the local/Italian joint venture of Itinera Ghantoot as the main contractor.

MEED reported in October that the joint venture had been selected for the contract.

The Reem Mall site is located in the Najmat District on Reem Island. The scheme involves building more than 200,000 square metres of retail, leisure, and entertainment facilities, including 450 stores, and 85 food and beverage outlets.

Local firm Dewan Architects & Engineers is the architect. The UK’s Faithful+Gould is providing a range of core services, including cost management, development advisory, project controls and specialised commercial management.

The project is being developed by Al Farwaniya Property Developments, a partnership between three Kuwait-based companies: Agility, Agility affiliate United Projects for Aviation Services Company (UPAC), and National Real Estate Company (NREC). The group signed a $457m senior credit facility to complete financing on the project in November.