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Saudi Entertainment Ventures (Seven), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saudi sovereign wealth vehicle the Public Investment Fund, has selected the local Modern Building Leaders (MBL) for the contract to build its estimated SR1.3bn ($347m) entertainment destination in Mecca.

The development covers an area of 80,000 square metres (sq m) and is located in the Al Abidiyah district on Taif Road, near Umm Al Qura University.

US-based engineering firm Gensler and Lebanon's Dar Al Handasah are the project consultants.

UK-headquartered Mace Group is the project management consultant.

The tender for the main contract was issued in January last year and the bids were submitted in June.

The contract award for the Seven Mecca complex adds to the list of recent high-profile wins for MBL.

In January, MEED exclusively reported that Jeddah Central Development Company had awarded two contracts worth over $900m to MBL to build an opera house and an oceanarium in the first phase of its Jeddah Central project.

MBL has also emerged as the frontrunner to win the main contract to build the Ceer electric vehicle production plant at King Abdullah Economic City.

In November, Seven appointed MBL to build its estimated SR1.3bn ($347m) entertainment destination in Abha.

The project is located near Abha International airport and will cover 64,000 sq m with a built-up area of about 79,000 sq m.

Seven projects

Last year, Seven awarded contracts worth approximately SR10bn for the development of its entertainment destinations in the kingdom.

In October, Saudi Binladin Group won contracts worth about SR5bn to build Seven’s two entertainment destinations in the Dammam and Alkhobar regions in the kingdom’s eastern province.

In February this year, MEED reported that the joint venture of Al Bawani and Urbacon had been awarded contracts totalling SR2.4bn for the construction of three entertainment complexes in Saudi Arabia.

The contracts cover the construction of entertainment projects in Tabuk, Yanbu and Medina.

Project pipeline

Seven plans to invest SR50bn in developing 21 integrated entertainment destinations in 14 cities in the kingdom as Riyadh pursues its strategy to move away from hydrocarbons, create jobs and improve the quality of life for citizens and residents.

The complexes are intended to help position the kingdom in the post-Covid-19 era as an entertainment, culture and tourism hub for the region.