Local developer Nakheel has invited contractors to bid by 27 November for the contract to build its AED2.5bn ($681m) Nakheel Mall project on the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai.

The 418,000 square metre (sq m) retail, dining and entertainment centre includes five retail levels with more than 100,000 sq m of shop space. There will also be three basement parking levels, 4,000 parking bays, a 1,000 sq m indoor garden and a 180-metre high viewing deck with panoramic views of Palm Jumeirah and the Dubai skyline.

Once complete, Nakheel Mall will have 200 shops, including a 4,200 sq m supermarket, two anchor department stores, a nine-screen cinema and six medical clinics.

Ground preparation and piling work for Nakheel Mall is already under way, with the construction contract due to be awarded by the end of 2013.

A separate contract to build a five star, 50-storey hotel – to be built alongside Nakheel Mall - will be let separately.

The complex is due to open in 2016. The consultant is Singapore’s RSP.