Mile-high tower: Prince Alwaleed invites Burj Khalifa's Emaar to set new record

The Saudi prince currently developing the world's tallest tower has invited the Dubai developer Emaar to help to develop an even higher building - a mile high - in one of the world's largest cities.

Work on the 1 kilometre tall tower, which has been valued at 4.6 billion Saudi riyals, officially started on April 1. Courtesy photo
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The Saudi prince currently developing the world's tallest tower has invited the Dubai developer Emaar to help develop an even higher building - a mile high - in one of the world's largest cities.
Prince Al Waleed bin Talal, one of the world's richest men, has invited the Emaar chairman Mohammed Alabbar to team up with his property development company Kingdom Holding to develop the tower, according to reports.
The prince said he was looking at various locations.
"I am now inviting the major cities of the world like Shanghai, Moscow, New York, London and regional cities in the Middle East to come and give their offers," Prince Al Waleed told Reuters, adding that interested countries would have to offer attractive financing terms or tax breaks.
He did not say how much the project would cost or how he planned to finance it.
Kingdom Holding is currently developing the Kindgom Tower in Jeddah that is set to overtake the 828-metre tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai when it is completed in 2017.
In 2009 the prince announced that Emaar would develop Kingdom Tower and supervise its construction, although the tie-up was later shelved as construction of the US$1.2 billion project was held up because of the global financial crisis.
In February a joint venture led by Kingdom Holding awarded the construction contracts to develop the long-awaited tower to Mace and EC Harris.
The 500,000 square metre tower will include a Four Seasons hotel, serviced apartments, offices and flats.
Kingdom Holding announced this week on its website that a company board meeting had heard a final deal had been struck with the hotel operator Four Seasons and initial construction work on the project was going according to plan.
Neither Emaar nor Kingdom Holding were immediately available for comment when contacted by The Nationalyesterday.
 
lbarnard@thenational.ae