RIYADH – Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), chaired by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, has appointed Calthrope Associates as the lead master planner of Kingdom City Jeddah and Godwin Austen Johnson (GAJ) as urban architects, the company said in a statement Monday. A two-day workshop was held in October 2012 with Calthorpe and GAJ to finalize the scope of work and financial offers. In 2012, Alwaleed, who initiated and has been the driving force behind the decision to build the world's tallest tower in Jeddah, announced the investment of SR1.5 billion from the Saudi Bin Laden Group (SBG) for a 16.63 percent stake in Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), owner of the Jeddah mega project that includes the world's tallest tower (Kingdom Tower) with a height of over 1,000 meters with a total cost of SR4.6 billion. The Kingdom Tower will be the centerpiece and the first construction phase of Kingdom City Jeddah. The overall estimated cost of the entire Kingdom City project is anticipated to be SR75 billion ($20 billion). JEC new urban development of more than 5.3 million sqm of land in the north of Jeddah overlooking the Red Sea and Obhur Creek. The partners of JEC are Kingdom Holding Company with a stake of 33.35 percent, SBG with a 16.63 percent stake, Abraar International Holding Company represented by Samaual Bakhsh, with a stake of 33.35 percent, and prominent Jeddah businessman Abdulrahman Hassan Sharbatly with a stake of 16.67 percent. The final license to construct the tower was formally received from the Jeddah municipality in February 2012. Alwaleed said: “Jeddah tower is on a solid strategic execution path.” Eng. Talal Al Maiman,Executive Director, Development and Domestic Investments, Chairman and CEO of Kingdom Real Estate Development Company (KRED), a board member of KHC and JEC, said: “The careful strategic planning has paid off and the execution of the greatest tallest building project in the world for the next years to come has started in the our beloved country Saudi Arabia, our country deserves no less than such a project.” – SG
