Kingdom Holding Co. is paying Bin Laden Group $1.23 billion to build the world's tallest building at 3281 feet (1000 meters) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, surpassing the 2717-foot Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The Jeddah building would house a Four Seasons hotel, offices, luxury condos, and the world's highest observation spot and be the centerpiece of a $20 billion, 57 million square foot development called Kingdom City. The building was supposed to be one mile high (5280 feet), but soil testing in 2008 cast doubt about over suitability for handling such a massive structure. The architect is Adrian Smith of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture in Chicago, the same fellow who designed the Burj Khalifa.
Presumably, shopping would be all around the 5,704,873 sq ft buiilding, although you would think one luxury retailer would take space at the top and brag about having the world's highest store. Big buildings often are ego boosting but economic sinkholes -- the Burj Khalifa has an occupancy rate of 44%. But there may be a better reason behind the development than national pride: jobs. With Middle East autocracies and monarchies falling to people fed up with few jobs and much corruption, putting people to work is the best way to keep the Saudi royal family in power. You only have to look at who owns 95% of Kingdom Holding Co. -- Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, nephew of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
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