Arabian Business reported that Kingdom Tower will be cheaper to build than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, comparisons show. The building that plans to steal the title of world’s tallest tower will cost USD 1.2 billion to build a significant drop from the Burj Khalifa’s USD 1.5 billion price tag

Mr Eric Tomich the architect behind the Burj Khalifa said that "The original construction contract for the Burj Khalifa was negotiated with the JV of Samsung Engineering, Besix and Arabtec in January 2005 for USD 1 billion. All the big stuff was in, so at the end the building probably cost USD 1.5 billion to USD 1.6 billion which still I think is pretty good value.”

Initial designs for the Jeddah based Kingdom Tower show a mixed used building featuring a Four Seasons hotel an observation deck and office space, served by 59 elevators.

Designer Mr Adrian Smith, who helped plan the Burj Khalifa while with architect firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, said that the Middle East’s cut price labour costs would be a key element in the more than 1 kilometer tall tower’s USD 1.2 billion price tag. In the Middle East you have very inexpensive labour, and they work three shifts, so they keep going all around the clock. That helps keep the construction cost low here.

(Sourced from www.arabianbusiness.com)