Six projects that didn't make it

CW Staff , March 23rd, 2010

The Middle East has had more than its fair share of ambitious, groundbreaking construction projects. Occasionally, for whatever reason, some projects don’t quite manage to see the light of day. Here are six of them.

Shah Rukh Khan Boulevard
“My vision for the project is to make life a celebration. I have lent my name to the project and I intend to share and transfer my passion for design and living spaces into this world class community that residents will be proud of.”

Those were the words of Shah Rukh Khan, Bollwood legend, at the unveiling of Shah Rukh Khan Boulevard in October 2008. Fast forward to February 2010 and the actor confirmed, in an interview with Emirates Business, that Shah Rukh Khan Boulevard “kind of fell through”.

Announced just as the financial crisis was gaining momentum, the project comprised ten residential towers on Ras Al Khaimah’s Dana Island. TSA Group was the developer and LA-based design house Ashai Design Corporation created the masterplan for the project. The reported development budget was US $2.2 billion and the intended completion date was 2012.

A giant statue of the great man was not reported to be part of the plan.

Next: Nakheel Tower

Nakheel Tower
Put this one down to the financial crisis, or maybe the fact that there wasn’t really much need for another ‘world’s tallest tower’. Rumours about the project had been around for years, but Nakheel Tower wasn’t formally announced until Cityscape 2008 ― just as the financial crisis was really beginning to bite.

The tower would have stood around one kilometre and 200 storeys tall, and would have formed the centrepiece of a 2.7 million m² marina development called Nakheel Harbour and Tower near Ibn Battuta Mall. The project was formally put on hold for 12 months in January 2009. In June 2009, it was put on hold for another 12 months.

Next: Mile High Tower

Mile High Tower
Jeddah’s housing shortage is well known and a mile high (1.6km) tower would certainly be one way of solving it. The idea of building a one mile tower on a site close to the Saudi city was floated as far back as 2003, but the development is still to get off the ground.

It appeared to gain some traction in 2007 when Bechtel was appointed as project manager, but the firm resigned from the project in early 2009. Emaar has since been linked with the project. Construction bloggers have speculated as to whether the proposed site for the project could support a mile high tower.

Next: Chess City

Chess City
In 2004, during a visit to the UAE, Kirsan Ilumjinov, president of the autonomous Russian republic of Kalmykia, formally announced plans to build an international chess city in Dubai. This AED 9.6 billion development would include 32 buildings, each shaped like a chess piece and coloured either black or white.

The ‘kings’ would house seven-star hotels and hotel apartments. The headquarters of the International Chess Association would be housed there (at the time they were in Lausanne, Switzerland) and Chess City would become the global hub for the game of chess.

According to a statement released at the time, further details would be announced during the president’s next visit to the region. No further announcements were ever made.

Next: City of Silk

City of Silk
First talked about at least four years ago, City of Silk is about as ambitious as they come. Discussions have focused on creating a brand new city of half a million people, close to Kuwait’s current capital.

At the centre of this brand new metropolis would sit a 1km tall tower; to put that into perspective, that’s almost 200 metres taller than Burj Khalifa, already the world’s tallest by a huge margin. An overall development cost of US $77 billion was mentioned.

While some elements of the Silk City plan may still go ahead (Kuwait, like everywhere else, needs more housing units), we have a feeling that the tower may be scaled back.

Next: Hydropolis

Hydropolis
Hydropolis was meant to be the world’s first underwater luxury resort, bringing ‘new meaning to the ocean-view room.’ Planned to be situated 66 feet below the surface of the Gulf, Hydropolis was supposed to feature 220 guest suites.

Constructed using reinforced concrete and steel, plexiglas walls and dome ceilings were going to offer the intrepid guest the nautical night’s sleep of a lifetime. It was scheduled to open in 2009, but unfortunately the bubble burst. The web site for the project is still under construction, which is still a little more than can be said for the hotel.