Dubai: The first sale of apartments at the world’s tallest skyscraper in the making, the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, should begin later this year. The build up towards the launch of the development — billed as the ‘kilometre-high tower’ — has already stoked immense interest, according to a top executive with the Jeddah Economic Co., the developer of the high-rise as well as of ‘The Kingdom City’ that will surround it.
Indicative prices of what the prices could be were not provided. The Burj Khalifa is 829.8 metres high.
The Kingdom Tower will have 61 storeys assigned for the residential component featuring 318 apartments. (Other floors will feature a hospitality component and offices.)
“Obviously, there are — and will be — record applications for ... Saudi and Gulf investors are eligible to buy and so are foreign buyers provided they meet certain conditions,” said Mounib Hammoud, CEO of JEC, which was set up in 2009 and whose capital has a book value of Dh8.7 billion.
The project is being developed by a consortium led by Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Co., Abrar Holding Co., Kela’a Jeddah Company and the Saudi Bin Ladin Group (which is also the primary contractor).
“We remain committed to completion of the Kingdom Tower in 2018 and for it to anchor the city of Jeddah. But it does not stop there — we have 5.3 million square metres of land and 12 million square metres of development for the overall project.
“Phase I itself will account for 1.5 million square metres of land and 3.3 million square metres of development. The Tower and its immediate environment will be the new city centre in the northern part of Jeddah.”
Hammoud declined to go into what the eventual height will be. “We will leave that part to the end as we do not want to be locked into the final height now. There are many reasons for that why delaying the announcement serves as the best cause.”
On whether he was part of the privileged few who knew what the final height would be the last metre, Hammoud said: “No really ... the Tower is the brainchild of the Chairman (Prince Al Waleed) and it’s for him to confirm it when he wants to.”
But there is already a lot happening on site, with the project now at the 14th level and already a visible landmark for anyone “exiting the Jeddah airport and looking to the northwest”, according to Hammoud.
“There are so many work records getting broken on the way — it’s all about the ingenuity of those who are involved in the project and the collective experience they bring to it.”
And what of the competition? Isn’t there a chance that a developer in China or Dubai could come up with something to challenge JEC for the mantle of the world’s tallest?
“I am on the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (based in Chicago) and it’s an entity that follows up on all the towers in the world. I would have had info if there were any projects that could be competition.”
According to Robin Teh, Country Manager at Chestertons MENA, “It will be extremely difficult to draw pricing comparisons between the Burj Khalifa and Kingdom Tower. The Jeddah property landscape is dominated by villas. Demand for the Kingdom Tower units will be internally driven, given that it will be the pride and joy of Saudis.
“The current prices at Burj Khalifa are in the range of Dh2,800-Dh3,800 a square foot, while in the last 12 months, they had touched Dh3,500-Dh4,000. The all-time historical peak was Dh4,000-Dh5,000 per square foot.”
