Dubai's Princess Tower becomes world's tallest residential tower

The dome and mast of Dubai's landmark Princess Tower have been completed, making it the world's tallest residential tower at a final height of 414 metres, says its developer.

United Arab Emirates - Dubai - January 3, 2011.

BUSINESS: Construction crews work on skyscrapers dotting the north end of the Dubai Marina on Monday, January 3, 2011. At center is the Tameer Holding Investments company's "Princess Tower." Amy Leang/The National
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The dome and mast of Dubai's landmark Princess Tower has been completed, making it the world's tallest residential tower at a final height of 414 metres its developer said today.

The Dubai Marina development stands at 107 storeys and encompasses basement floors, a ground floor and 100 above-ground levels. The project is in its final stages of development and is expected to be handed over in the second quarter of this year.

Federico Tauber, president of developer Tameer, said: "In a city of skyscrapers it is still an extremely satisfying feeling to have completed yet another record-breaking project. Princess Tower is now the tallest residential building in the entire world and its iconic status as a residential super-high rise makes it a very prestigious and sought-after address to live in."

A few years worth of challenges culminated in the successful assembly of the dome, topped off by a decorative mast, weighing 110 tonnes, of steel and aluminium.

Occupying a land area of 37,410 square feet, Princess Tower houses 763 luxury apartments, including one, two, three, four-bedroom apartments in addition to penthouse apartments overlooking The Palm Jumeirah.

In December, Mr Tauber said apartments in Princess Tower were selling for an average of Dh950 a square foot, compared with about Dh2,300 a sq ft at the height of the market.

Sale prices for apartments in Dubai Marina have fallen by between 7 and 12 per cent in the past year, depending on the size of the apartments, Asteco reports.

The tower will contribute to more than 3,100 new apartments are scheduled to hit the market in Dubai Marina in the early part of this year, putting further pressure on declining rents in the popular coastal district.

The current tallest completed residential building in the world is The Torch, the 337-metre tower located a few blocks away from the Pentominium project in Dubai, which itself could surpass Princess Tower if it is ever completed to the 516m originally planned. That project has become bogged down in delays.

The Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, is 828 metres.