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Construction resumes on world’s tallest skyscraper after nearly seven-year hiatus

Oct 4, 2024, 10:57am EDT
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A view shows the construction site of Jeddah Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia February 6, 2018.
Reem Baeshen/Reuters
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The News

Dubai’s long-cherished superlative will soon be snatched by Saudi Arabia.

Billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is resuming construction on Jeddah Tower, poised to be the world’s tallest skyscraper which will overtake the Burj Khalifa and dwarf New York’s One World Trade Center.

Prince Alwaleed’s company and the Saudi Binladin Group will restart work after a nearly seven-year hiatus, CNN reported, following the kingdom’s 2017 anti-corruption purge that stalled the project and in which the prince and Bakr bin Laden were both detained.

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The planned 1,000-meter-tall Jeddah Tower will surpass the world’s current tallest building, the 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa.

Kingdom Holding, majority owned by Prince Alwaleed, signed a 7.2-billion-riyal ($1.9 billion) deal with Saudi Binladin to complete the tower by 2028. Investment banks have shown interest in financing the project, which includes luxury homes and a hotel.

“We’re back,” the prince posted on X, sharing a mockup of the mirrored obelisk.

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