The Burj Dubai – Boom or Bust?
The World's Tallest building - the Burq Khalifa as it is now known
Update to this article: The Burj Dubai was re-named the Burj Khalifa.
Fresh online news commentary on The World’s Tallest Building
Dubai has many spectacular buildings but the ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum wanted something that no one else had – not only the tallest building in the world but also the most impressive. Sheikh Mohammed has always envisioned Dubai as the Mecca for Arabic influence and be the king when it comes to monuments.
The Burj Dubai – Boom or Bust?
Sheikh Mohammed has been formulating the renaissance of Dubai for the past 30 years and the results are clearly evident – it is one of the most spectacular cities on earth.
Four years ago he dreamt of making the tallest building in the world and that building is finally going to open up tomorrow on January 4, 2010.
As of today, the Burj Khalifa (Burj Dubai) stands just over 2,625 feet but the final height may be adjusted before the opening ceremony to make sure that nothing else will come to catching it at least for the next couple of decades. Experts indicate that the final height may be close to 2,684 feet, much taller than the Taipei 101 in Taiwan which had been the world’s tallest building at 1, 670 feet for the past couple of years.
Despite the downturn in economy and collapse of the Dubai real estate market, it is believed that opening of the Burj Khalifa (Burj Dubai) will be a boost to the economy by bringing in revenues of close to 1 billion in the first quarter. However, this remains to be seen as much of the office space and real estate lie empty. Investors simply have not been able to afford the exorbitant prices for office space or homes near the Burj.
In its heyday, Dubai had some of the most expensive real estate in the world demanding close to $2,774 for sq feet. The cheapest apartment on the Burj Khalifa (Burj Dubai) grounds is $2-$3 million.
One has to remember that 80% of the Dubai population is made up of ex-pats and poor Indian, Chinese, Pakistani and Bengali laborers who work for less than $300 or less a month and who sleep 20-30 in a room. Most can hardly afford more than one meal a day in this expensive city. Today, many projects in Dubai are on hold as the city finds itself in a deep recession and tethering on bankruptcy.
In today’s economy with an uncertain future, financial experts indicate that Sheikh Mohammed’s ambitious dream for Dubai is on a fine line – the city of Gold or the city which came so close and never made it.
Update: The Burj Dubai is now known as the Burq Khalifa.
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we will be there soon and y do u think that we dont have money to build a tower such as that there is a plan to build a tower 3 times taller call dubai vecairtl city and fyi arabs are not terrorists it is ppl like bin laden which i dont count as arab cuz arabs are a warm friendly community where the rich and poor are friends and the sheik is the friend of the ppl and in the uae dubai is the only famous city but but we also have abu dhabi which is so great it held a f1 racing event in nov.