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Dubai Rising! A km-high Tower Next
DUBAI - Dubai’s skyline is set to become more dramatic after property developer Nakheel on Sunday announced plans for a kilometre-high tower complex.
The tower, which will become the centrepiece of a 270-hectare community in the heart of ‘New Dubai’ near Jebel Ali, will surpass Burj Dubai’s estimated final height of about 800m.
It will take more than 10 years to complete at an expected cost of about Dh140 billion.
Nakheel Harbour & Tower, inspired by Islamic design and featuring the world’s only inner city harbour, was launched at a VIP event attended by Dubai’s Crown Prince Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and hosted by Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chairman of Dubai World, which owns Nakheel.
Nakheel CEO Chris O’Donnell would not reveal the tower’s final height and was cautious about calling it the world’s tallest ahead of numerous other proposals, including the ‘mile high tower’ in Jeddah planned by Kingdom Holdings.
“It may be the tallest tower. You don’t have to be the tallest tower, you just have to be an iconic development,” he said.
The tower, to be located on the corner of the Arabian Canal and Shaikh Zayed Road, will be come home to more than 55,000 people, a work place for 45,000 more and is expected to attract millions of visitors a year.
O’Donnell would not give the exact cost of the development but was confident of funding which, he said, would be drawn from Nakheel’s overall project financing.
“It will be a combination of pre-sales of land in and around the tower, and then project funding,” O’Donnell said.
He said the global economic climate would drive a fight among financiers and banks for quality investments such as Nakheel.
The developers’ good relations with top international banks would continue to be a source for funding “including some that are now parts of other banks as well — but that’s okay”, he said.
The foundation work is already under way and is expected to take two to three years.
Architects Woods Bagot and engineers WSP group are involved in the development.
Nakheel Tower will have four individual towers within a single structure.
A crescent-shaped podium will encircle the base. The development will incorporate elements of historic Islamic cities — the gardens of Alhambra in Spain, the harbour of Alexandria in Egypt, the promenade of Tangier in Morocco and the bridges of Isfahan in Iran.
It will be surrounded by 40 smaller high-rise buildings, ranging from 20 to 90 floors.
The development will include 3,400 hotel rooms and a luxury hotel unit near the pinnacle of the tower.
zoe@khaleejtimes.com
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