Local property firm Nakheel is now planning to tender the contracts for the construction of its AED2.5bn ($681m) mall development on the Palm Jumeirah in the third quarter of this year.

The developer is currently reviewing the designs to increase the project’s size and increase the retail space. Before the design review began, Nakheel was planning to tender the work in April.

The development is expected to be split into two main construction packages, one covering the mall, the other for the construction of the hotel tower. Like other Nakheel construction contracts, the packages will be openly tendered.

Once complete, the mall will have five levels and three basement parking levels with almost 100,000 square metres of retail space, a 1,000 sq m indoor garden and a 180-metre-high viewing deck. The mall will have about 200 shops, including a 4,200-sq m supermarket and two anchor department stores, a nine-screen cinema and six medical clinics.

The five-star hotel will have 200 room and 200 apartment units. This may increase if more floors are added to the tower.

The mall will have 4,000 parking spaces and will also have a station on the Palm monorail, which runs along the trunk of the Palm to Atlantis from the terminus on Beach road. Nakheel and Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority plans to connect the monorail with the under construction Al-Sufouh tram network that will connect to the Dubai Metro network.