A career built like a city
Wail Balkhair
Twenty six years of Saudi real estate development.
Wail Balkhair
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Preparing the journey
Wail Balkhair1999 · Jeddah
It started on the night shift.
Aviation operations at Jeddah's airport with GACA: a young engineer learning how big infrastructure really runs.
2008 to 2011 · SEDCO
The holding years.
Administration services at SEDCO Holding, the wealth group behind Red Sea Mall and twenty more companies.
2011 to 2018 · Jeddah
The mall that raised an operator.
Al Mahmal Center: seven floors, 120 showrooms, a 20 floor tower, and the climb from mall manager to Deputy CEO.
2018 to 2021 · Makkah
Mixed-use mega-project beside the Grand Mosque.
Leading SAHAT and Jabal Omar's commercial arm: 180,000 sqm of malls serving millions of pilgrims a year.
2021 to 2025 · North of Dammam
A new coastal development, from zero.
Chief operating roles on a confidential PIF giga-project: 395 square kilometers of resorts, homes, farms and marinas.
2025 · Riyadh
The world's next modern downtown.
At New Murabba, home of the Mukaab, he leads asset management for a destination of 14 million square meters.
Wail Balkhair
Wail Mobarak Balkhair is a Saudi C-level executive with 26 years in commercial real estate, shopping centers and asset management, built on an engineering foundation. He has led malls, property companies and operations departments across Jeddah, Makkah and Riyadh, and today directs asset management at New Murabba, the Riyadh destination rising around the Mukaab.
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Achievements
The record, in numbers.
- $13B
- commercial portfolio value led at Jabal Omar
- 14M m²
- of floor area under his asset mandate at New Murabba
- 395 km²
- of coastal giga-project operations built from zero
- 100%
- occupancy reached at Al Mahmal Center
- +29%
- average rent growth delivered in three years
- +58%
- added to average profit through one acquisition
Nine roles, three cities, one climb.
From the night shift to the executive floor. Select a role to expand it.
- Building the asset management department for the Mukaab district: property, facilities, community and security.
- Service charge models, lifecycle planning and SLAs that protect income and asset value.
- Established the operations department with four verticals for a 395 km² coastal destination.
- Guided masterplan operability from early design to pre-launch.
- Led the commercial division of a 13 billion USD mixed-use development: malls, 15 hotels and 4,000 parking bays.
- Ran 180,000 sqm of retail in Jabal Omar and wrote the project's ten year retail strategy.
- Opened the Al Khalil Courtyard beside the Grand Mosque in four months.
- Shared responsibility with the CEO for company performance, development and investments.
- Raised average rents 29 percent and occupancy to 100 percent on a three year plan.
- Closed an acquisition adding 58 percent to average company profit.
- Ran a seven floor landmark: 120 showrooms, 50 kiosks, 23 restaurants and a 20 floor office tower.
- Finished 21 percent above target in the first year.
- Ran headquarters services for one of the region's leading wealth management groups.
- Maintenance planner for Saudi aviation infrastructure, then relations lead for a visa platform serving 800 agents worldwide.
Landmarks
The places his teams built, opened and ran.
- years in commercial real estate
- 26+
- sqm of retail GLA led
- 180K
- landmark mandates
- 4
14 km²masterplan
New Murabba
- 14M sqm of gross floor area
- The Mukaab: a 400 m landmark
- A 45,000 seat stadium
395 km²of new coast
Coastal giga-project
- 3,000+ holiday homes
- 400 marina berths
- 1,600 hotel keys
180Ksqm of retail GLA
Jabal Omar and SAHAT
- 15 international hotels, 12,000+ keys
- 2.5M sqm of built up area
- Steps from the Grand Mosque
100%occupancy achieved
Al Mahmal and SEDCO
- 120 showrooms across seven floors
- A 20 floor office tower
- 550 bay parking structure
Retail Professional of the Year 2019
Golden Award, Retail Congress MENA, Dubai
“I hope that my story inspires young men and women approaching this field; no matter how modest one's beginnings are, success is not impossible.”
Wail Balkhair, accepting the award
Leadership and board roles
- President of the Board, MECS+R, Dubai
- President, Shopping Centers Committee, Jeddah Chamber
- Member, ICSC, New York
- Advisory Board, Community College, King AbdulAziz University
- Entertainment and Tourism Committee, Jeddah Chamber
- Honored by the Governor of Jeddah for Al Mahmal's role in the Historic Jeddah Festival, 2016
Press and writing
Interviews, features and essays from two decades in retail.
2020ReadRetail People Magazine
Cover story: A Path to Success
- 2019Read
Arab News
Sahat CEO named Retail Professional of the Year
- 2019Read
Saudi Gazette
The Golden Award for the best CEO
2016WatchCNBC Arabia
Saudi malls: 100 billion riyals in annual sales
2019WatchSAHAT
A journey of trade in Makkah
- 2019Read
LinkedIn
The 9th Category, an essay on mall classification
- 2019Read
LinkedIn
Jabal Omar malls in Retail People magazine
Let's build what's next.
Boards, advisory, partnerships, media and speaking.