Prince Alwaleed signs deal to build world’s tallest tower

Kingdom Holding, the Saudi firm owned by billionaire businessman Prince Alwaleed, has signed a construction contract to build the world’s tallest tower in Jeddah.Binladin Group, one of the kingdom’s biggest contractors, won the $1.2bn deal for the one-kilometer tall Jeddah Tower, which is set to steal the crown from Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.The tower will include a hotel, serviced apartments, luxury condominiums and offices, and will occupy a 500,000 sq m area, Kingdom said in a statement on the Tadawul Tuesday,It will be located in the first phase of Kingdom City, a 5.3m mixed-use development north of Jeddah, which overlooks the Red Sea and Obhur Creek.The Binladin deal was signed by Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), one of Kingdom’s associate firms. The giant contractor also takes a 16.63 percent ownership of JEC.Kingdom Holding holds 33.35 percent of JEC, alongside Abrar International Holding (33.35 percent) and Abdurrahman Sharbatly (16.67 percent).No further details as to when construction will begin, or when the project will be completed, were provided.The construction deal marks a significant step forward for the Jeddah project, which has been in the pipeline for some years. Last year, Kingdom signed up US-based Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill Architecture to design the building.Media reports earlier this year had suggested that the tower could be as large as 1,600m tall, which would have made it twice as high as its nearest competitor.The world's tallest building at present is Dubai's 828m high Burj Khalifa, developed by Emaar Properties. Completed in January 2010, the tower was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.