UAE-based Majid al-Futtaim (MAF) has selected Saudi Arabia’s Al-Saad General Contracting Company to build a $40m City Centre shopping mall on the outskirts of Beirut.

MAF plans to build the mall, which will be similar to its City Centre malls in the UAE, on the Damascus road. It will have a built-up area of about 125,000 square metres.

The other bidders for the contract included Arabian Construction Company, Kettaneh Construction, Matta & Associates, Michel Abi Nader Entreprises, Societe d’Entreprises Abdel Rahman Hourie, Societe d’Entreprise & de Gestion, all local, UAE-based Arabtec Construction, and the local Qualco in a joint venture with UAE-based Alec (MEED 15:12:09).

Germany’s Bauer is the piling contractor. The consultant is the Lebanese Samir Khairallah & Partners. UK-based Davis Langdon is the quantity surveyor.

The project is part of a $4bn programme to expand MAF’s shopping malls division outside its core markets of the UAE and Kuwait. The developer is planning to build two shopping centres in Syria, and a third in Saudi Arabia.

MAF is also increasing its presence in its home market. It expects to open its Mirdif City Centre mall in Dubai in the first quarter of 2010. Alec is working on the $708m main construction contract for the mall.