Destination & Program Delivery
From Empty Site to Operational Destination: Boulevard City
Providing PMO performance oversight from day zero through accelerated delivery and controlled commercial closeout of a major entertainment destination.
- Role
- PMO Manager
- Delivery period
- Approx. 3 months and 1 week
- Project value
- More than SAR 900M
- Commercial complexity
- 600+ purchase orders
Six main contractors led the principal scopes, supported by hundreds of smaller contractors and suppliers governed through more than 600 purchase orders.
The Context
I joined Boulevard City from day zero, when the site was still an empty area. The destination was developed through an exceptionally compressed program involving simultaneous work by multiple contractors, consultants, business units and international IP stakeholders.
The Challenge
After accelerated delivery, the program faced a substantial closeout challenge. More than 600 purchase orders across six main contractors and a broad network of hundreds of smaller contractors and suppliers required structured review, validation and payment release. The central risk was releasing final payments before every contractual deliverable, handover obligation and latent defect had been properly addressed.
My Responsibility
As PMO Manager, monitor overall project performance, report to senior management, identify supplier-performance concerns, issue early warnings to project managers and business units, support resolution of contractor and consultant disputes, and coordinate the commercial and administrative closeout plan.
The Approach
- Established systematic project data flows through a smart portal and converted the information into Power BI reporting for senior-management visibility.
- Applied performance KPIs, including earned value management and planned-versus-actual monitoring, to identify emerging delivery concerns.
- Raised supplier-performance warnings and coordinated action with project managers and relevant business units.
- Developed and coordinated a structured closeout and payment-release plan covering more than 600 purchase orders across a project valued at more than SAR 900M.
- Used Preliminary Acceptance Certificate (PAC) and Final Acceptance Certificate (FAC) controls to validate deliverables before final settlement.
- Maintained a 10% final-payment retention where required by the relevant purchase-order terms, protecting against defects or incomplete obligations discovered after accelerated delivery.
- Coordinated resolution among contractors, consultants and Sela teams before recommending final payment release.
Risk-Control Example
The most significant closeout risk was paying contractors in full before latent defects or incomplete deliverables became visible. PAC/FAC controls and the final 10% retention created a financial mechanism to enforce correction. When post-delivery damage or incomplete work was identified, the retained amount could be used or deducted to resolve the issue rather than transferring the exposure to the client.
Outcome
An empty site became a completed destination in approximately three months and one week.
- More than 600 purchase orders across a project valued at more than SAR 900M were brought under a structured closeout and payment-release process.
- Final payment release was connected to verified handover, PAC/FAC and contractual deliverables.
- Identified damage and incomplete obligations could be addressed through retained amounts before final settlement.
Follow-on Impact
Ownership, coordination and closeout leadership on Boulevard City contributed to my promotion from PMO Manager to Senior PMO Manager.
Key Stakeholders
- Sela as client and delivery organization
- General Entertainment Authority
- Khatib & Alami
- Takamul
- Six main contractors
- Hundreds of smaller contractors and suppliers governed through 600+ purchase orders
- International IP stakeholders
- Sela project managers, business units, procurement, finance and commercial teams
What This Demonstrates
- PMO leadership in an accelerated delivery environment
- Portfolio-level performance visibility
- Earned value and planned-versus-actual monitoring
- Contractor and consultant coordination
- Commercial closeout governance
- Defect and payment-risk control
- Executive reporting and early warning