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2009-12-03 08:48:52
By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer Brian Murphy, Associated Press Writer
Wed Dec 2, 6:10 pm ET
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates When work began in 2004 to build the world's
tallest tower, Dubai's confidence also was sky high with a host of
mega-projects on the drawing board or rising from the sands.
That swagger seems positively old school these days. It's been tripped up by a
debt crunch that has humbled Dubai's leaders and exposed the shaky foundations
of the city-state's boom years leaving the planned Jan. 4 opening of the
iconic Burj Dubai with a double significance of hello and goodbye.
It will be both a debutante bash for a new architectural landmark and a
farewell toast to Dubai's age of excess.
The Burj Dubai a steel-and-glass needle rising more than a half-mile (800
meters) may be the last completed work from Dubai's time of the giants. Most
other of the unfinished super-projects announced in recent years, such as a
second palm-shaped island or a tower to surpass the Burj Dubai, are either
recession roadkill or being considered on a far smaller scale.
If they are still considered at all.
Dubai last week dropped what amounted to a financial bombshell announcing its
main government-backed development group, Dubai World, needed at least a
six-month breather from creditors owed nearly $60 billion.
World markets had known a day of fiscal reckoning was creeping up on what was
once the world's fastest-growing city, swelling from about 700,000 in 1995 to
more than 1.3 million today. But the depths of Dubai's red ink seemed to
surprise everyone, rattling stock exchanges from Hong Kong to New York and
adding exclamation points to obits-in-progress on the death of Dubai's golden
years.
The Burj Dubai gala is now a welcome diversion. And one without a direct
political sting: the building was developed by Emaar Properties, a state-backed
firm not linked to the current debt meltdown.
"This tower was conceived as a monument to Dubai's place on the international
stage," said Christopher Davidson, a professor at the University of Durham in
Britain who has written extensively about the United Arab Emirates. "It's now
like a last hurrah to the boom years."
It's not the first time a skyscraper has gone up as the economy swooned.
New York's 102-story Empire State Building was designed as the world's tallest
building just before the 1929 stock market crash and opened in 1931 as the
Great Depression was taking hold. In 1999, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, officially opened to claim the world-tallest crown two years after
the financial meltdown of the once-soaring Southeast Asian economies.
But the Burj Dubai, or Dubai Tower, occupies a special niche. Few cities have
grown so far so fast pushed along by runaway property speculation and the
boundless ambitions of Dubai's ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The recession barged in last year and quickly dried up the cash flow.
The brakes also were slammed on hundreds of Dubai projects from residential
towers that stand half-finished to a desert Xanadu that included a Universal
Studios theme park and a "city of wonders" with full-size replicas of the
Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal and other famous sites.
Sheik Mohammed even has grown a bit testy over Dubai's dimming star power. In a
meeting with international investors in November, he switched from Arabic to
English to tell naysayers in the media to "shut up."
Dubai's boosters hope the opening of the Burj Dubai which include offices,
residences and a hotel _will give them at least some respite from the bad news.
The Dubai PR machine is working overtime.
A barrage of statistics vital and trivial are pouring out as the $4.1
billion building gets its finishing touches: more than 160 stories topped by a
spire that reaches a reported 2,684 feet (818 meters), well above the runner-up
skyscraper, Taipei 101 in Taiwan, at 1,671 feet (508 meters). The Burj has even
pushed past other giant structures taller than Taipei 101 such as the CN Tower
in Toronto and the KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota.
The Burj designed by the Chicago-based architectural firm Skidmore, Owings &
Merrill is billed to have the world's fastest elevator at up to 40 mph (64
kph) and can be seen as far as 57 miles (95 kilometers) away. It takes three
months just to clean all the windows.
But there's some facts that are still closely guarded, including how much of
the office and residential space is leased and whether the financial meltdown
will make the Burj another tower of debt.
The current price for purchase or rent, too, is also unclear. It's certain,
though, that it's gone down along with property prices across Dubai in the past
year. A report in October by the Investment Boutique, a real estate advisory
firm in Dubai, said asking prices in the Burj Dubai area had slumped by 77
percent since the peak a year earlier.
"Buildings like the Burj Dubai are born from the optimism of the moment," said
Carol Willis, director of The Skyscraper Museum in New York. "That may not
necessarily be the mood when the project is finished."
The Burj Dubai also faces some location drawbacks that didn't burden Dubai's
other signature structures, such as the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel and the
Palm Jumeirah island that fans out into the Gulf. The Burj Dubai rises above a
new annex of the city that was originally designed as a cluster of towers
which is now put on hold because of the economic crunch.
That leaves the Burj soaring above what amounts to high-priced empty lots.
But for a moment at least it will shift the spotlight back on Dubai from
its oil-rich cousin, Abu Dhabi, the new boomtown of the UAE.
Abu Dhabi has already bailed out its debt-ridden neighbor once this year and is
now watching from the wings as Dubai pleads for time with its global creditors.
Dubai without any oil resources bankrolled its growth as a financial hub
and a Mideast version of Las Vegas.
The rulers in more conservative Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, moved in other directions
in their campaign to put the city on the world map in a generation.
In the past few months, Abu Dhabi hosted its inaugural Formula One race, won a
global competition to host the headquarters of the new International Renewal
Energy Agency and announced a $1 trillion plan to upgrade the city's roads,
transportation and public venues. Also in the works are plans for branches of
the Louvre and Guggenheim museums and a New York University campus.
Suddenly, Dubai is playing the unfamiliar role of second city.
Dubai opened its elevated metro line in September, but with only about a third
of the stations opened. Last January, the state-owned builder Nakheel which
is part of the current debt crisis said the fiscal crunch forced it to
suspend plans for a Dubai skyscraper designed to top the Burj Dubai.
As Dubai's leaders try to calm markets and investors, Abu Dhabi planned a
party.
A fireworks show on Wednesday for the UAE's national day was billed as the
world's largest display, with 100,000 devices exploding over Abu Dhabi's
biggest hotel.
> Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Mohammed: We have the resolve to face all challenges
UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has met with journalists and media professionals
during celebrations to mark the UAE's 38th National Day.
Sheikh Mohammed congratulated the journalists on the special occasion and
discussed his views about the much hyped ''Dubai World crisis''. He said that
media reports surrounding the issue were exaggerated and confused in many
respects, but that this did not overly concern him.
After describing the firm resolve and determination with which Dubai has always
faced challenges in the past, Sheikh Mohammed said that he had anticipated the
media's overreaction to the restructuring of Dubai World, adding that it's a
reflection of Dubai's pivotal position in the global economy.
He spoke about how the tree bearing the most fruit always commands the most
attention, and called on the media to be more cautious, transparent and
credible in their reporting. Concluding his remarks, Sheikh Mohammed explained
that only by using their conscience can the media earn the public's trust and
respect.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum reaffirmed that the UAE economy remains robust
and stable due to its diversity, strategic planning and firm foundations today.
These qualities, he added, enable it to react to the ups and downs of the
global economy and overcome all challenges.
In an address to the nation printed in Dira Al Watan (National Shield) magazine
to mark the 38th UAE National Day celebrations, Sheikh Mohammed spoke about the
country's achievements, which he described as having changed the region's
political landscape through the emergence of a new state.
''The seven emirates are united by mutual consent and free choice,'' he said.
Sheikh Mohammed reasoned about how the country's formation altered the region's
social topography and paved the way for the emergence of a new society with a
new identity. He went on to say that under the wise leadership of UAE President
His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE is entering a new era
of prosperity and that it's currently building the road into a solid future.
''His leadership,'' he said, ''will guide the country from success to success,
from achievement to achievement and from excellence to excellence.''