Absurd race for Asia’s tallest tower
China and Pakistan have joined the race to build Asia’s tallest tower, at least as long as the planned 1 kilometer-high Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah does not materialise, which is not likely to happen before 2018.
The first, albeit opaque project, is the one of Pakistan’s real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, owner of Bahria Town, a group which claims to be the largest real-estate developer and property investor in Pakistan and the largest private housing society in Asia.
Riaz originally announced in February 2013 that he, together with UAE-based Abu Dhabi Group, will invest $45 billion into the construction of a massive skyscraper located within Pakistan’s first-ever luxury property project Island City near Karachi. Few details have been announced about the structure and no artist’s impression exists, but it aims to be higher than the currently tallest building worldwide, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which measures 830 meters.
Even though Abu Dhabi Group, headed by UAE minister Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, signed a memorandum of understanding, the deal has been scrapped in March 2013. Riaz then announced that he joined forces with US real estate mogul Thomas Kramer to provide him $20 billion for the first phase of the Karachi development.
However, observers doubt that the project, which claims to provide jobs for 2.5 million people and housing for 1 million in the impoverished and terrorism-prone country, would ever materialise. The net worth of Thomas Kramer, who made his money through the development of Miami South Beach, is estimated at just $90 million. Furthermore, he has recently received a hefty fine in the US for illegally financing election candidates.
Another project is much more likely to make it from planning stage into reality. It’s the 838-meter tall skyscraper recently approved for construction in the city of Changsha, Hunan in south-central China, which, as its developer, Broad Sustainable Building claims, could be build in just 210 days from prefabricated construction components and would only cost $928 million to complete.
With a height 10 meters more than Burj Khalifa in Dubai, it would be the tallest building in the world, but the project has faced strong criticism from architects who said that pre-fab construction is not feasible for such a tall tower. However, despite the project has been delayed in its schedule several times in the past, it would start construction later on 2013, the developer said.
Other current projects for tall towers are being pursued in Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan Tower) and Kuwait (Burj Mubarak Al Kabir).
List of planned tallest skyscrapers:
[caption id="attachment_9381" align="alignleft" width="106"] The planned Sky City tower in Hunan, China, 838 meters[/caption] China and Pakistan have joined the race to build Asia's tallest tower, at least as long as the planned 1 kilometer-high Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah does not materialise, which is not likely to happen before 2018. The first, albeit opaque project, is the one of Pakistan's real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, owner of Bahria Town, a group which claims to be the largest real-estate developer and property investor in Pakistan and the largest private housing society in Asia. Riaz originally announced in February 2013...
China and Pakistan have joined the race to build Asia’s tallest tower, at least as long as the planned 1 kilometer-high Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah does not materialise, which is not likely to happen before 2018.
The first, albeit opaque project, is the one of Pakistan’s real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, owner of Bahria Town, a group which claims to be the largest real-estate developer and property investor in Pakistan and the largest private housing society in Asia.
Riaz originally announced in February 2013 that he, together with UAE-based Abu Dhabi Group, will invest $45 billion into the construction of a massive skyscraper located within Pakistan’s first-ever luxury property project Island City near Karachi. Few details have been announced about the structure and no artist’s impression exists, but it aims to be higher than the currently tallest building worldwide, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which measures 830 meters.
Even though Abu Dhabi Group, headed by UAE minister Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, signed a memorandum of understanding, the deal has been scrapped in March 2013. Riaz then announced that he joined forces with US real estate mogul Thomas Kramer to provide him $20 billion for the first phase of the Karachi development.
However, observers doubt that the project, which claims to provide jobs for 2.5 million people and housing for 1 million in the impoverished and terrorism-prone country, would ever materialise. The net worth of Thomas Kramer, who made his money through the development of Miami South Beach, is estimated at just $90 million. Furthermore, he has recently received a hefty fine in the US for illegally financing election candidates.
Another project is much more likely to make it from planning stage into reality. It’s the 838-meter tall skyscraper recently approved for construction in the city of Changsha, Hunan in south-central China, which, as its developer, Broad Sustainable Building claims, could be build in just 210 days from prefabricated construction components and would only cost $928 million to complete.
With a height 10 meters more than Burj Khalifa in Dubai, it would be the tallest building in the world, but the project has faced strong criticism from architects who said that pre-fab construction is not feasible for such a tall tower. However, despite the project has been delayed in its schedule several times in the past, it would start construction later on 2013, the developer said.
Other current projects for tall towers are being pursued in Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan Tower) and Kuwait (Burj Mubarak Al Kabir).
List of planned tallest skyscrapers:
Kramer, a mogul?? Swiss and American courts call him a thief, rapist and pedophile!
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2013-05-23/news/thomas-kramer-south-beach-portofino/