Cenomi awards Lynx $220m Madinah Downtown mall contract

Madinah, Saudi Arabia - Arabian Centers Company (Cenomi Centers) has awarded Lynx Contracting a $220 million (SAR 825 million) design-and-build contract covering the mall and offices at the Madinah Downtown project.

The Saudi developer of lifestyle destinations signed the agreement with the contractor on 29 October 2026, and the works are due to run for 30 months.

The project’s owner, Saudi Downtown Company, belongs to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and forms part of its Urban Development & Livability ecosystem.

Lynx Contracting will handle design and build for both the mall and the office building. Under the agreed terms, its work takes in engineering, building works, supply and installation, then testing and commissioning before the final handover.

According to Cenomi Centers, the contract’s financial effect will be reflected in its results across the construction period.

The $220 million contract value excludes VAT, the company said in its disclosure to the Saudi stock exchange.

Cenomi Centers classed the award as a related-party transaction. Its Chairman, Fawaz Alhokair, and Vice Chairman, Salman Alhokair, each have a direct stake in the contractor, and Managing Director Kamil Al-Qalam is indirectly interested in the deal. The company said the terms were normal commercial ones, set at market rates as part of its usual business, with no special treatment given.

The award comes after Saudi Downtown and Cenomi Centers signed agreements in August covering the Al Madinah Downtown retail centre.

A three-year Development Services Agreement puts Cenomi in charge of design, procurement and construction for the retail component. Under a separate Promise to Lease Agreement, Cenomi will lease the finished mall and run it for 25 years.

Madinah is the second major Saudi Downtown package Lynx has won through Cenomi. Its earlier win, announced in June, was a $342 million (SAR 1.3 billion) design-and-build contract from Cenomi Centers for the Al Khobar Downtown Mall and Boulevard Project, in the Eastern Province.

The Al Khobar scheme pairs premium shopping with a boulevard and is planned as an upmarket destination for retail, entertainment and leisure, adding to the flagship assets Cenomi Centers holds around the kingdom.

There, Lynx took on the full package for the mixed-use retail and lifestyle destination: design and engineering, procurement, building and installation, then testing, commissioning and handing the finished scheme over.