Konkan Tribune: Jeddah to have world’s tallest tower of 1000 m

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Jeddah to have world’s tallest tower of 1000 m

The investment firm headed by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said on Tuesday it signed a 4.6 billion Riyal ($1.2 billion) deal with the Saudi Binladen Group to build the world's tallest tower.

Kingdom Holding Company said the more than 1000 m high Kingdom Tower to be built north of the Red Sea city of Jeddah, is part of the first phase of the planned Kingdom City.

The mega project, announced in 2008, is slated to cover a two-square mile area.

Kingdom Tower will include a hotel, serviced apartments, luxury condominiums and offices occupying 5.4 million square feet, KHC said.

The project is but one of several ambitious mega-ventures in the kingdom, Opec's top exporter, as it seeks to diversify its economic base from the crude oil that has fueled its growth for years.

It also reflects a continuation of the unstated race between the oil rich Gulf nations that are also pumping tens of billions of dollars into job creation and housing for their lower income residents.

Alwaleed's proposed skyscraper would shatter the record for Burj Khalifa, which opened in January 2010. That tower has 160 livable floors and rises 828m, making it not only the tallest building but also the tallest freestanding structure in the world.

By comparison, the tallest building in the United States, the Willis Tower in Chicago, stands at 442m, although counting its antenna towers it rises to 527m.

The One World Trade Centre tower being built in New York will measure 541m with its antenna spire. It's due for completion in 2013.

Dubai developer Nakheel had itself planned to build a tower more than 1km high in the city-state , but it shelved those plans in early 2009 as the global economic crisis soured demand for real estate in the emirate.