The local Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) has received prequalification documents from contractors for the enabling works for the large shopping mall it plans to build on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi.

Known as the District, the 168,000-square-metre retail centre will connect to the Louvre, Guggenheim and Zayed National museums, which are at various stages of development on the island. Once complete, the mall will have 500 retail outlets and entertainment venues.

The enabling works include piling, excavation, dewatering, site hoarding and other early works for the project. Tenders will be issued to contractors that successfully pass the prequalification process.

US-based Turner Construction International is the project manager. TDIC is developing the mall in joint venture with L Real Estate, a private equity fund in which LVMH, the owner of fashion brand Louis Vuitton, is a minority investor.

The project is just one of several major shopping malls planned in Abu Dhabi. The local GR Sowwah Retail received prequalification documents from contractors for construction work on its Al-Maryah Central development in late October.

The retail centre will be built on Al-Maryah Island, which was formerly known as Sowwah Island. It will have 140,000 sq m of leasable area on five levels. It will have two department stores and 400 other retail outlets together with food and beverage outlets and basement parking.

The project management consultant is US-based Aecom. The cost consultant is the UK’s Faithful & Gould.

GR Sowwah Retail is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) created by Gulf Related, which is a joint venture of Saudi Arabia’s Gulf Capital and US-based Related Companies.

In September, Al-Farwaniya Property Developments invited companies and joint ventures to express interest in bidding for the estimated AED1.9bn ($517m) contract to build its Reem Mall development on Reem Island.

The project involves the construction and completion of a large-scale regional retail mall located in the Najmat district of Reem Island.

The mall will have three retail levels with 400 retail units. It will also have 6,250 car parking spaces. Once completed, the mall will have 550,000 square metres of built-up area with 190,000 sq m of gross lettable area.

A contract is expected to be awarded the enabling works in the second quarter of 2015, which will include earthworks, excavation and dewatering. Work on the main construction contract is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The UK’s Mace Group is the project manager. The consultants working on the project include Dewan Architects & Engineers as the architect of record, and WME as the structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing consultant.