Kingdom Tower, set to be the tallest skyscraper in the world, is expected to have construction funding in place by the end of the first half, according to the developer’s chief executive officer.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the company is in talks to bring in Riyadh-based Alinma Bank as an advisor and lender.
Mounib Hammoud, CEO of Jeddah Economic Co., told reporters BNP Paribas (BNP) SA is currently advising the company, without disclosing the size of loan being sought.
“The slogan of the company now is ‘it’s happening’ because, before I joined last September, people were asking whether the project is happening,” Hammoud said. “We are up and running.”
Kingdom Holding Co. (KINGDOM), Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s investment company, and partners including tower builder Saudi Binladen Group are trying to arrange funding after investing $2.3bn (SR: 8.7bn) in the project, Hammoud said. They are seeking a bank loan with a maturity of five to seven years, he added.
Once finished, the $1bn (SR: 4.6bn) Kingdom Tower in Jeddah will stand 1km (3280ft) high – four times taller than The Shard, in London, and over 500 feet taller than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the current record holder.
The tower will take five years to construct. It is expected to use half a million cubic meters of concrete and around 80,000 tons of steel.
The finished building will cover a total area of over 500,000m2 and have 200 floors. There will be 59 elevators, including five that are double deckers. Those that take visitors to the observatory will travel at 10 metres per second.
The Kingdom Tower will be the centerpiece of the £13bn Kingdom City development just north of Jeddah, overlooking the Red Sea.
The new city will consist of over 5.3mn m2 of urban development including housing, commercial property, hotels, offices, shops, educational and commercial centres.