The kilometre-high Jeddah Tower is due for completion by 2019 now that the financial issues with the main contractor Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) have been resolved, its developer said.

The tower was originally scheduled for completion in 2018.

Jeddah Tower, which currently stands 54 floors high, is being built by Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), the investment firm owned by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and will become the world’s tallest building on completion. 

The tower is the first phase of the Kingdom City project, while Phase Two will boast several  skyscrapers, apartment buildings and other social centres.

Speaking to the press during a site visit, Prince Alwaleed pointed out that Jeddah Tower will stake claim to being the tallest in the world despite the latest announcement that Dubai intends to build an even taller tower. “It is a solid concrete building unlike the one announced in Dubai which is a skeleton structure,” he said.

 Alwaleed said the central core containing elevator shafts and stairwells has reached Level 54. “Construction of the Jeddah Tower will rely on cutting-edge technology, including high-strength reinforced concrete and pumps used to raise it to record heights,” the KHC chairman said.

According to him, the overall construction cost of the tower and the surrounding economic city is likely to be around SR75 billion ($20 billion).

“The final height of the building would not be revealed even to project partners until six months before its completion, when the size of the spire at the top will also be unveiled,” he added.