core. West Marina provides mooring for 164 boats on average annually, having been opened in 2001. Its capacity stands at 186 boats, ranging from 5 to 65 meters, with three-quarters of the mooring area accommodating boats of more than 25 meters long. Solidere developed and is operating the West Marina as part of its 50-year agreement with the Lebanese Government, which also includes planned underground corniche car park. Construction on the East Marina will commence in early 2013 in the northeast quarter of the Waterfront District. Beirut Exhibition Center Beirut Exhibition Center is the first structure dedicated to contemporary art in Beirut's new waterfront district. It is composed of 1200 square meters of art gallery space, with its exterior shell covered in reflective mirror-like steel. Working with the topography, the building sits in a reflective pool of water that further reflects both the building and its surroundings, including a bamboo grove to the north and a sculpture garden to the south. The center is designed by L.E.FT, an architecture and landscape design firm based in New York City. L.E.FT described the center saying: "The mirror facades allow the Beirut Exhibition Center to act as a scale reflecting the continuously changing landscape in the waterfront district. The city becomes a work of art, an abstract expressionist painting in motion. Beirut finally sees itself in the mirror." An adjacent landscape garden and an outdoor cafe are annexed to the Beirut Exhibition Center. Zaitunay Bay Zaitunay Bay is a quayside commercial and tourist strip around the West Marina, composed of 17 restaurants and cafes, 5 retail stores, 2 activity centers, a yachtclub and a boardwalk. The quayside restaurant strip is a prime destination in the city center with restaurants stretching along the Beirut Marina, from the site's western limit to the Yacht Club building on the east. The strip houses several international restaurant and cafe chains such as Paul, Moti Mahal Delux, Häagen-Dazs, and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, aside to many local outlets serving seafood, and Lebanese or French Cuisine. Zaitunay Bay is a joint venture between Solidere and Stow, and is designed by American architect Steven Holl, famous for projects such as the Simmons Hall at MIT and the Linked Hybrid complex in Beijing. The project is conceived as an urban beach, extending the existing Corniche Beirut and the new sea promenade in a series of overlapping platforms, reminiscent of