Dubai’s Emaar Properties plans to build a new tower in the emirate to surpass the Burj Khalifa, currently the world’s tallest building, chairman Mohamed Alabbar told reporters
yesterday.
The new project comes as Dubai developers continue to announce new schemes despite a softening real estate sector, with the Emaar-built Burj Khalifa expected to be usurped by a tower currently under construction in Saudi Arabia.
Alabbar would not confirm the height of the proposed new tower, saying only that it would be “a notch” taller than the Burj Khalifa, which stands at more than 828m.
Supported by a matrix of cables, the futuristic tower will anchor the redevelopment of the Dubai Creek, the heart of old Dubai where traditional dhow boats continue to ferry goods.
The tower, designed by Spanish-Swiss neo-futuristic architect Santiago Calatrava Valls, is slated to have a rooftop courtyard, residential units and a link to a retail plaza.
The building is expected to be completed for the Dubai Expo trade fair in 2020, the same year that the kilometre-high Kingdom Tower in Jeddah is due to overtake the Burj Khalifa as the world’s tallest building.
Alabbar said that his company would like to present the tower as a “gift to the city before 2020”.
 He described the new structure as an “elegant monument” which would add value to property being developed by the company along the city’s creek.
“Many would like to have a view” when considering buying a property, he said.
The tower will be slender, evoking the image of a minaret, and will be anchored to the ground with sturdy cables, according to Emaar.
Funding for the $1bn project will be 50% equity and 50% debt, Alabbar said, undeterred by a residential property market that consultancy Cluttons says has softened for at at least five quarters.
The balance between supply and demand is very encouraging, Alabbar said.
He declined to give figures, but said: “I don’t see a pullback. We are doing better than 2015.”
Burj Khalifa, which cost $1.5bn to build, was opened in January 2010.