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Work is expected to restart on the future world’s tallest building in Saudi Arabia afrer a $2.8-billlion (SAR7.2 billion) construction agreement signed this week.
The Jeddah Tower announcement was made on the Saudi Stock Exchange by Kingdom Holding Company.
Seven years after work stopped, Kingdom Holding Company associate company Jeddah Economic Company signed an agreement with Saudi Binladin Group Company to resume construction on the 1000m super-skyscraper.
“The total value of this agreement amounts to SAR7.2 billion [out of which around SAR1.1 billion has been already paid for works previously completed on the tower], with an anticipated construction period of 42 months,” the contract details said.
“Jeddah Economic Company will finance remaining construction of the tower through internal funding and banking facilities.”
So far just 63 of the towers’ 157 floors have been built due to the project’s main contractor and co-financier being detained during an anti-corruption campaign across Saudi, which halted the project.
Jeddah Economic Company updated its website after the news of the contract broke, with the latest news and added a live cam feed. However, links to this and social media pages were broken.
About a year ago The Urban Developer spoke with urban explorers Urbex, who visited the Jeddah Tower construction site to see if 2023 reports about work starting were true. They were not.
Several construction companies listed in the 2023 announcement who were also contacted for our report said they had no intentions of bidding for the project.
Share prices in Kingdom Holding Company have steadily risen since the start of the new financial year and jumped a further 10 per cent after the announcement.
The world’s tallest tower was designed by Adrian Smith+Gordon Gill Architecture. Adrian Smith was also the architect behind the Burj Khalifa when he was with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.
Earlier, in 2020, work had been expected to restart and The Urban Developer spoke to Thornton Tomasetti principal Robert Sinn from the engineering company that provided structural design services.
They were hopeful construction would start later that year, however, Covid threw a massive spanner in the works for the building formerly known as Kingdom Tower.
It was planned to be in the centre of the 5.3-million-square-metre Jeddah Economic Company City.
Jeddah Tower is planned to include A-grade office space, 200 hotel rooms, 121 serviced apartments, 500 residential apartments, three sky lobbies and an observatory deck.
Another Saudi megaproject, NEOM is facing scrutiny after the Uniting Nations raised alarms about the imminent execution of three members of the Howeitat tribe, whose traditional land the project crosses.
“Despite being charged with terrorism, they were reportedly arrested for resisting forced evictions in the name of the NEOM project and the construction of a 170km linear city called The Line,” the UN experts said.
Three other members were sentenced to 27, 35 and 50 years in jail charged under the “overly vague 2017 Saudi law”, according to the UN.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund is behind the development that is planned cross three Howeitat villages.
“We urge all companies involved, including foreign investors, to ensure that they are not causing or contributing to, and are not directly linked to serious human rights abuses,” UN human rights experts said.
The Howeitat people were part of the Arab Revolt against the Turks, which was depicted in the film Lawrence of Arabia.
Meanwhile, work is moving ahead on the megaporject with the Sindalah Yacht Club opened on the first island of NEOM last week.
Since January, Hyatt and Zannier Hotels, Equinox, Capella Hotels and Resorts, Marriott, Raffles have announced plans to operate in NEOM.
