KSA : Kingdom Tower (Mile-High Tower)

[Saif al-Arab]

 

[Asmar Hussain]

Arrival of Dajjal is nearing.. Holy Prophet Muhammad SAWW mentioned that those will be the last hours when you find bare feet sheep grazing arabs compete in building taller buildings.

Be prepared
Recitation of Sura Al Kahaf every Friday is your only defense aginst fitna tu Dajjal.

Quran - Recite & Listen Quran Online
Quran Explorer

Tell me if ksa stop this project , then dajjal will not come or dajjal delay his time ?

 

[Irfan Baloch]

Tell me if ksa stop this project , then dajjal will not come or dajjal delay his time ?

its a valid question might as well ask @Saif al-Arab to halt the construction of all mega projects in KSA until we get the verdict on this.

but wait, why only KSA? what about the construction projects in Uganda and Iran? hmm?

btw I am one of the fist people who got to use this stunning airport when it was completed (Riyadh international)

 

[Irfan Baloch]

@graphican please .. your posts are in the wrong place

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Live camera feed;

Jeddah Economic Company - Live Cam Feed - Live Cam Feed

Hotel: Accommodation Redefined

To surpass the global standards of the Kingdom Tower’s partaking, a signature hotel, The Four Seasons Hotel, has become a contributing milestone, nestled within the Kingdom Tower, offering 200 rooms and 121 luxury serviced apartments. Offering world-class accommodation for business executives and tourists, the hotel’s astounding architecture is meant to provide guests with all the needed amenities, ranging from executive meeting rooms, business services, recreational facilities, as well as various restaurants offering global cuisines with culinary delights.

With the Kingdom Tower’s Four Seasons Hotel, hospitality has been redefined to a new level, allowing guests with great views during accommodation, adding to the unique centerpiece an inspiring meaning, Seven Star Style.

The moment you step into the Hotel’s lobby, encircled by the breathtaking surroundings of the Kingdom City, you are sure to be greatly tempted to learn of the new lifestyle that awaits you within for a fantastic experience.

The Four Seasons Hotel Features :
1- Royal Suites
2- Ambassador Suites
3- Executive Suites
4- Various Bedrooms
5- Shopping Stores
6- Executive Lounges
7- International Cuisine Restaurants
8- Recreational Facilities
9- Executive Halls for various events

Jeddah Economic Company - The Tower - Hotel

Sky Lobbies :

Nestled within the Tower among the different Tiers, occupying levels 42, 43, and 84, visitors will witness the vastness of the sky lobbies, defined as identical levels in which coffee shops, restaurants, showrooms, in addition to Spas and gyms offering unsurpassed wellness services to its visitors, delivering a world-class identity, are situated.

Indeed, the sky lobby, situated at a high level of the Tower, elevates your senses as well as your imagination of the possibilities of redefining what a lobby is capable of being.

Jeddah Economic Company - The Tower - Sky Lobbies

 

[Al Bhatti]

May 11, 2015

The observation deck at the Kingdom Tower is planned to be at 660m. Courtesy Jeddah Economic Company

Apartments in Saudi’s Kingdom Tower set to go on sale this year

Residential apartments at Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Tower, which is slated to become the world’s tallest building on completion in 2018, will likely go on sale later this year, the developer’s chief executive told Reuters on Sunday.

The tower in Saudi Arabia’s second biggest city Jeddah has the backing of billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, whose investment firm Kingdom Holding owns about a third of the project’s master developer Jeddah Economic Company (JEC).

Once completed, the $1.2 billion Kingdom Tower will be more than 1km high, said JEC chief executive Mounib Hammoud, taking the title of the world’s tallest building from Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which stands at 828 metres.

The Kingdom Tower will have a gross floor area of 245,000 square metres and include offices, a 200-room Four Seasons Hotel, 121 serviced apartments and 360 residential apartments.

The apartments “will be for sale. Maybe we will rent some, pool some for rental or do (investment) funds on a few - it depends on the market,” said Mr Hammoud, adding that sales should begin this year.

His company is now collecting applications from potential buyers. Construction has reached the 14th floor.

Citizens of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the UAE are eligible to buy units in the tower, but other potential investors will require government approval, Mr Hammoud said.

JEC is investing 8.7 billion riyals (Dh8.52bn) in the Jeddah Economic City project, which includes Kingdom Tower and Saudi Arabia’s largest shopping mall. Of the total, 7.3bn riyals is a contribution in kind including the land upon which the tower is built, plus 1.4bn riyals in cash.

The project will be funded partially through a loan from Saudi banks and through apartment sales, said Mr Hammoud. He said the company had received “consent” for the loan and would sign for it this year, but declined to reveal its value.

JEC could go public “in due time”, Mr Hammoud added. Jeddah-based Abrar Holding owns 33.4 per cent of JEC; the main contractor for the tower project, Saudi Binladin Group, and Kilaa Jeddah Co own about 16.6 per cent each.

Apartments in Saudi’s Kingdom Tower set to go on sale this year | The National

 

[Saif al-Arab]

A man came to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and asked :

....Then tell me about the signs of the hour (Qiyamah) Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) replied : "That slave women give birth to their mistresses; and that you see barefoot, unclothed, beginning shepherds competing in the construction of tall buildings." (Sahih Muslim)

What the hell has that do with anything? What has that to do with KSA, Hijaz or the Kingdom Tower?

Where are the slave women giving birth to their mistresses? Where are the barefoot people in one of the richest nations on the planet today and long before Islam in terms of resources and wealth? Whoever walked around naked in Arabia to begin with, the first inhabited spot on planet earth after East Africa?

Who are the shepherds in Hijaz? What's wrong with being a farmer or a shepherd?

Troll post, sir by a person who does not understand Islam or the words modernization, progress, investments etc. @Irfan Baloch

P.S: The first man-made skyscrapers on the planet were built in Southern Arabia (Yemen) almost 2000 years ago.

 

[Azad-Kashmiri]

What the hell has that do with anything? What has that to do with KSA, Hijaz or the Kingdom Tower?

Where are the slave women giving birth to their mistresses? Where are the barefoot people in one of the richest nations on the planet today and long before Islam in terms of resources and wealth? Whoever walked around naked in Arabia to begin with, the first inhabited spot on planet earth after East Africa?

Who are the shepherds in Hijaz? What's wrong with being a farmer or a shepherd?

Troll post, sir by a person who does not understand Islam or the words modernization, progress, investments etc. @Irfan Baloch

P.S: The first man-made skyscrapers on the planet were built in Southern Arabia (Yemen) almost 2000 years ago.

... In Ibn Hajar's commentary about these passages (in Fath al-Bari) states that the "bear-foot and naked, deaf and dumb" are their attributes showing how coarse they are i.e. they did not use their hearing or sight in anything concerning their religion even though they are of perfectly sound senses.

Sulayman al-Taymi’s and other narrations makes explicit: "Who are the barefoot and naked?" He answered: "The Bedouin Arabs."

 

[Saif al-Arab]

... In Ibn Hajar's commentary about these passages (in Fath al-Bari) states that the "bear-foot and naked, deaf and dumb" are their attributes showing how coarse they are i.e. they did not use their hearing or sight in anything concerning their religion even though they are of perfectly sound senses.

Sulayman al-Taymi’s and other narrations makes explicit: "Who are the barefoot and naked?" He answered: "The Bedouin Arabs."

I think that you need to educate yourself on Islam and the Arabic language and the history of the region.

There are no Bedouins in Hijaz let alone anywhere near Jeddah which is the biggest city along the tropical Red Sea. Bedouins do almost not exist anymore in KSA but they are great ancient people famous for their hospitality, warrior skills, Arabian horse breeding, falconry, music, story telling, poetry and many other positive attributes.

Do not troll in this informative thread.

 

[Azad-Kashmiri]

I think that you need to educate yourself on Islam and the Arabic language and the history of the region.

There are no Bedouins in Hijaz let alone anywhere near Jeddah which is the biggest city along the tropical Red Sea. Bedouins do almost not exist anymore in KSA but they are great ancient people famous for their hospitality, warrior skills, Arabian horse breeding, falconry, music, story telling and many other positive attributes.

It is unfortunate, you don't know who ibn Hajar al-asqalani (rahim'Allah) was. It is sad you don't know Fath-Al Bari is the commentaries to Sahih Al-Bukhari. Please don't be offended that an Ajami knows Islam better than you do. Fyi, I studied in the lands of the Arabs and I speak Fus'ha.

And if you want to debate me ahlan wa sahlan!

 

[Saif al-Arab]

It is unfortunate, you don't know who ibn Hajar al-asqalani (rahim'Allah) was. It is sad you don't know Fath-Al Bari is the commentaries to Sahih Al-Bukhari. Please don't be offended that an Ajami knows Islam better than you do. Fyi, I studied in the lands of the Arabs and I speak Fus'ha.

And if you want to debate me ahlan wa sahlan!

Ok, you don't get it. Fair enough.

Don't worry your nonsense will be deleted from this informative thread.

Religious debates are not allowed here but rest assured that I could quickly prove your nonsense wrong and that it has nothing to do with KSA or this project.

 

[Azad-Kashmiri]

Religious debates are not allowed here but rest assured that I could quickly prove your nonsense wrong and that it has nothing to do with KSA or this project.

Sorry my brother, the hadith you can't disprove. Unlike you people, I rely on understandings of the Salaf and I do not make up anything and I quote them.

It has everything to do with arad al haramain sharifain. So please be careful about calling hadith of nabi as'salaathu was'salaam....(I'm not writing what you wrote). This is NIFAQ!

La kum dinukum waliya din! I have nothing more to say to you.

 

[Irfan Baloch]

... In Ibn Hajar's commentary about these passages (in Fath al-Bari) states that the "bear-foot and naked, deaf and dumb" are their attributes showing how coarse they are i.e. they did not use their hearing or sight in anything concerning their religion even though they are of perfectly sound senses.

Sulayman al-Taymi’s and other narrations makes explicit: "Who are the barefoot and naked?" He answered: "The Bedouin Arabs."

I am sorry please dont use Hadith to troll on this thread. banning you from this thread due to constantly flame baiting.

if you were quoting this hadith on every thread related to tall buildings and other infrastructure then I would have understood but its not the case

 

[Irfan Baloch]

Dear @Irfan Baloch

Can you please delete every post until the most recent post 188 which is actually about the topic at hand. Thank you.

@Azad-Kashmiri I have no problem with you brother or any other user here but allow me to say that you your interoperation of something unrelated said 1400 years ago has little meaning in this case due to the reasons I mentioned.

Also please delete this post Irfan as well to kill off the debate.

very unfortunate indeed

 

[Saif al-Arab]

High life: Jeddah Economic Co's Mounib Hammoud

​

The world’s cities are in the midst of a skyscraper building boom,” is the conclusion of the latest Skyscraper Index from real estate analyst Knight Frank this month.

Skyscrapers — classed as buildings over 350 feet high - are a rising tide in the modern global city, it claims. London has added 23 new skyscrapers since the year 2000, compared to just 17 during the previous four decades.

New York, often considered the birthplace of the skyscraper, added four new towers in 2014 alone and Dubai, which has firmly snatched the title from the Big Apple in recent decades, has built nearly 190 skyscrapers in the last 15 years.

However, while Dubai’s 828-metre, 163-storey Burj Khalifa currently holds the record as the world’s tallest tower, the title will soon move to a rather surprising location: Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

With construction started in April 2013, Jeddah’s Kingdom Tower is already 14 floors high and is set to be opened in 2018. The brainchild of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, a massive third of the tower’s $1.2bn construction bill has been spent on what has been described as ‘soft costs’ — the design, research and development — which is considered unheard of in the industry and demonstrates that this tower is indeed more about building an icon rather than building a business plan.

In the past, New York decided to build upwards because land prices were so steep in the popular Manhattan business district, while Dubai’s Burj Khalifa was designed to be part of its drive to diversify from oil and help be a showcase for the emirate’s drive to attract 20 million visitors a year by the year 2020. Jeddah is hardly short on land, while its observation deck is unlikely to show anything more than sand dunes. So what is the thinking behind Kingdom Tower?

“First of all the tower is the brainchild of His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and I think the tower will reposition the city of Jeddah alongside international cities and it will have an icon, it will have a landmark,” says Mounib Hammoud, CEO of Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), the company behind the construction and development of Kingdom Tower.

“It is an expression of the ingenuity of people. It is about government and economic growth and economic power. It is a statement to the whole world. In Egypt, when the Pharaohs were powerful they built the pyramids; when Napoleon came back from war he built the Arc de Triomphe and when the church was in Europe it built these huge cathedrals. Today is the time of expressing how our materials are powerful and how our people are intelligent.

“I think with the experience and ingenuity of the designers, the consultants, the contractors and my team, nothing will be impossible,” says Hammoud. While ingenuity is a word he uses constantly throughout our chat, you do get the sense that this tower fits very much in the mindset of ‘build it and they will come.’

“The main mission of Jeddah Economic Company is to build Kingdom City. Over 5.3 million square metres of land we will develop a new city centre and position the city of Jeddah on the international scene of modern regional cities, alongside the downtown of Beirut and Downtown Dubai,” he reiterates again.

But you only have to look at the experiences of some iconic skyscrapers to see some of the warning signals along the road to a tower’s success. The famous Empire State Building was opened in 1931 and New York was instantly hit by the Great Depression of the 1930s. For years New Yorkers derided it as the “Empty State Building” and it lay mainly vacant for decades, failing to turn a profit for 20 years until the economy picked up once more.

Even last year, the Shard in London, which was built with Qatari money, was launched during the global economic crisis. While it garnered massive headlines, recent reports claim the 72-storey tower, which is Western Europe’s tallest building, is largely vacant. Another London landmark, the Gherkin, opened ten years earlier and took a decade to fill its floors.

In Dubai, when the Burj Khalifa opened in January 2010 - in the midst of the city’s property crash when prices slumped by nearly 60 percent - it was claimed that
825 of the tower’s 900 apartments lay empty and rents quickly dived by around 40 percent.

With Kingdom Tower being launched in the midst of the decline in the price of oil - Saudi Arabia’s main cash driver - I ask Hammoud how long he expects it to take before the landmark makes a profit, but again he reverts back to form: “The business model is the shareholder and will make money when we start selling land and we create the value. At this time the objective of management really is to build all of this.”

As a result, it is no wonder that with a billionaire backer, Hammoud doesn’t seem worried by the potential impact of the drop in oil prices.

“In our plans, there is no slowdown and we will go at the speed set. For the price of oil the Saudi budget is the highest in history. These are major projects so they will continue to grow, regardless of the price of oil, and in June 2015 the market will open for foreigners, which will bring more liquidity for investors.”

As the tower quickly rises out of the ground, Hammoud reveals that residential apartment sales at the tower are slated to start later this year, with handover set for 2018 and 2019. The Kingdom Tower will have a gross floor area of 245,000 sq m and include offices, a 200-room Four Seasons hotel, 121 serviced apartments and 360 residential apartments.

The apartments “will be for sale. Maybe we will rent some, pool some for rental or do [investment] funds on a few - it depends on the market,” Hammoud told reporters in his typically vague style. While JEC is currently collecting applications from potential buyers, citizens of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the UAE are eligible to buy units, but other potential investors will require government approval.

As JEC begins to lay out its stall for potential buyers, the economics in Jeddah show a generally positive picture for most sectors, except residential. Commenting on the Jeddah market, Jamil Ghaznawi, national director and country head of property consultancy JLL’s Saudi office, concludes: “The real estate market in Jeddah is showing continuous signs of growth across most sectors. Although the residential sector saw rents decrease, sale prices have increased, particularly for apartments.

“The hotel and office sectors continue to perform well, experiencing an increase in rental rates and ADRs [average daily revenues], while vacancy rates remain relatively stable and in some cases are decreasing. The retail sector has experienced a marginal increase in vacancy rates, which are likely to increase as more supply enters the market. This has not affected retail rents which are showing overall healthy growth.”

Kingdom Tower’s key target is likely to be the office market, which is performing well
in Jeddah. Office vacancy rates have remained stable at 6 percent over the last quarter, according to JLL’s first quarter report. This is most likely due to the limited office space entering the market in the first quarter of 2015. Average market rents remained unchanged during that period, but increased by 6.5 percent during the previous twelve months to SR990 ($263) per square metre. Prime rents have continued their upward trend and have increased to SR1,900 per square metre.

With the Four Seasons hotel set to occupy the bottom floors of the tower, the good news is the hotel market is performing well in Jeddah and remains healthy, with occupancies remaining relatively stable year-on-year at 73 percent. ADRs are solid, having decreased by a marginal 0.4 percent to $241, compared to the same period last year. Revenue per available room has decreased by just 2.8 percent to $175, compared to the same period last year.

JLL’s only warning signal is the residential market. While sale prices have continued to increase and rents have jumped 7.5 percent, the number of transactions registered by the Ministry of Justice substantially decreased as a result of the 30 percent mortgage law and falling oil prices. Since the stricter mortgage regulations came into law in November 2014, transactions for apartments have decreased by 27 percent.

Despite the mixed market forecasts, Hammoud reports the project is currently being funded through a loan from Saudi banks, which will be finalised this year. According to a report by Bloomberg last year, the company is in talks to bring in Riyadh-based Alinma Bank as an advisor and lender, while Hammoud previously said BNP Paribas was advising it on its financial details.

Another option to raise cash is to float the company. Hammoud says JEC could go public “in due time” but doesn’t give any concrete timeframes or schedule. Luckily, the financial burden is not all on Prince Alwaleed’s shoulders, as Jeddah-based Abrar Holding owns 33.4 percent of JEC, while the main contractor, Saudi Binladin Group, and Kilaa Jeddah Co own about 16.6 percent each and help spread the costs and challenges.

“There is no project without challenge, without difficulty: construction, wind, façade, sustainability, fire safety, you name it. I think with the experience and ingenuity of the designers, the consultants, the contractors and my team nothing will be impossible. We will overcome all challenges and all difficulties. We are adopting the latest and most cutting-edge things,” Hammoud says optimistically.

One area that is totally breaking ground, literally, is in the construction of the tower. At 1km tall, it is literally building up into the unknown. How will labourers be able to work at such heights?

“I don’t have an answer for that yet frankly,” he admits. “This [issue] is the field of the contractor and to my knowledge we have three shifts of eight hours each. The safety measures, every meeting it is on the agenda: no joking, no risks, no nothing. We set the pace and, as we go higher, health and safety becomes more of a challenge and really we have to teach people from day one to respect the rules.

“What has been done before has been done on other buildings around the world and our contractors are experienced in the kingdom, they built the Clock Tower in Makkah - that's 650 metres high - so they have achieved this height already.

“From now to then our consultants have hired some of the most talented people who have worked on high buildings around the world. It is about the ingenuity of people and the experience and know-how.”

With just three years until the inevitable opening, many would say it is unlikely Kingdom Tower will see the over-the-top style fanfare of the sort bestowed on Burj Khalifa by Dubai, with its fireworks and lavish parties, especially with the more conservative approach adopted in Saudi Arabia.
However, Hammoud says it should not be underestimated: “We are thinking outside the box.

“We are thinking of a major entertainment offering. We are talking to consultants and if you have any ideas you are welcome [to provide them].”

Only time will tell, but in 2018 Jeddah will rise onto the world’s stage and everyone will wait to see what it has to offer. Will it stand the test of time like the Great Pyramids or will it be the biggest white elephant in the world? It's still too early to say, but going on previous record-breaking towers’ experiences, it might be a while before the final accolades can be made from an economical perspective.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/high-...l#.VVkRkPm4TIV