The world’s tallest tower to be built in Jeddah, the Kingdom Tower, will be completed by the middle of 2017, said Kingdom Holding Company (KHC).

The skyscraper, which will stand tall at 1,000 metres, is the centerpiece and the first construction phase of Kingdom City Jeddah, the new urban project of Jeddah Economic Company (JEC) to be developed on more than 5.3 million sq m of land overlooking the Red Sea and Obhur Creek.

A team led by Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG) created the design. The team also comprised building services engineering consultants, environmental systems design and structural engineering consultants, Thornton Tomasetti, engineer of three of the world’s top 10 tallest buildings.

Announcing this on Sunday, KHC chairman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said: 'The final license to construct the world’s tallest tower was formally received from the Jeddah municipality in February and it will be completed in 63 months.'

In another developement, the project developer Saudi Bin Laden Group has bought a strategic 16.63 per cent stake in the tower project for SR1.5 billion ($399.9 million) as part of its growth strategy.

With this investment, the total capital in JEC, the owner of the Jeddah mega project that includes Kingdom Tower, has risen from SR7.3 billion to SR8.8 billion, said Prince Alwaleed, who has been the driving force behind the tower.

The key partners in JEC are Kingdom Holding Company and Abraar International Holding Company represented by Samaual Bakhsh (both with a stake of 33.35 per cent), Saudi Bin Laden Group (16.63 per cent) and prominent Jeddah businessman Abdulrahman Hassan Sharbatly with 16.67 per cent stake.

“The vision of constructing the tallest tower in the world in Jeddah belongs to Prince Alwaleed, who was closely involved in the selection of the scheme currently under design,” said Talal Al Maiman, executive director, Development and Domestic Investments, a board member of both KHC and JEC.

“We were impressed by the boldness and simplicity of the AS+GG design. Kingdom Tower’s height is remarkable, obviously, but the building’s iconic status will not depend solely on that aspect. Its form is brilliantly sculpted, making it quite simply the most beautiful building in the world of any height,” he remarked.

To be built over a total construction area of over 500,000 sq m, the soaring Kingdom Tower will be a mixed-use project featuring a Four Seasons hotel and serviced apartments, first class office space, luxury condominiums and an observatory that will be higher than the world’s current highest observation deck.

The contract for construction of the tower was signed with Saudi Bin Laden group for SR4.6 billion ($1.2 billion) and the overall estimated cost of the entire Kingdom City Jeddah project is anticipated to be SR75 billion ($20 billion).

Commenting on the project, Sharbatly and Bakhsh said, “We are confident that upon completion, Kingdom Tower will become one of the world’s great tourist destinations as well as one of the most attractive places to live and work in the region.”

We believe this project will create thousands of jobs, spurring the local economy, he added.

“We intend Kingdom Tower to become both an economic engine and a proud symbol of the Kingdom’s economic and cultural stature in the world community,” said Al Maiman.

“Kingdom Tower will be a landmark structure that will greatly increase the value of other properties around it in Kingdom City and indeed throughout North Jeddah,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service