Nakheel has announced in a lavish launch with hollywood stars at the famous Atlantis Dubai, that it will built a tower towring over 1 Kilometer that is to beat the world record on Burj Dubai which is still needed to be completed.

A whole town is to be built covering 270 hectares, forming a new Dubai and including “a tower which could reach one kilometre in height,” bin Sulayem was quoted as saying.

Bin Sulayem said the entire project would cost 140 billion UAE dirhams ($38.12bn).

The world’s tallest building, the yet to be completed Burj Dubai tower reached a height of 688 metres (2,257 feet) last month and is still growing, according to developers Emaar. It now boasts 160 storeys, the highest skyscraper in the world, Emaar said.

Nakheel, known for building palm-shaped islands off the coast of Dubai, has already started construction of the development, a project that will take about 10 years, chief executive Chris O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell said the project, which includes as many as 40 other towers and will house 55,000 people, would be developed in phases, depending on market conditions.

The developer, which already has about $60bn worth of projects, said it expected buyers in the emirate to focus more on schemes near water, transportation and landmark structures in the future.

Nakheel’s tower development, which will vie for the title of world’s tallest tower, will be financed through pre-sales and project finance.

O’Donnell said he was confident banks would lend to the developer as, in these times, lenders were looking for a “flight to quality”.

Last month, Nakheel launched a $1.2bn loan to finance general corporate activities, which was underwritten by Saudi Arabia’s Samba Financial Group, he said.

In February, chief financial officer Kar Tung Quek said the company needed about $5bn a year to fund projects through a mix of land, pre-sales and borrowing.

The firm had been aiming to raise 3bn dirhams ($817 million) of equity to finance housing and 5bn dirhams for infrastructure projects via an initial public offering of real estate investment trusts (REITs) this month, Quek said.

“Market conditions are adverse for any market currently … We are still preparing to launch REITs, but when the market conditions are right,” O’Donnell said.

Competition for the title of world’s tallest tower is heating up in the Gulf region as real estate developers benefit from a more than four-fold increase in oil prices.

Kingdom Holding Company, controlled by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, is planning to unveil the designs for a mile-high (1,609 metres) tower in Jeddah this month, according to the London-based Middle East Economic Digest.

Kuwait has said the Burj Mubarak in its City of Silk development will also be more than 1,000 metres high.

Jamal Panhwar
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