Let me explain
MEED understands that several experienced international contractors, as well as some prominent local contractors, have been approached. This follows PIF receiving offers in June 2025 from firms seeking the project management consultancy (PMC) contract for a new central business district on the outskirts of Riyadh that includes the tower; the PMC role covers both the tower and the district. Firms understood to have been invited include Aecom, Jacobs, Parsons and Turner of the US and Mace of the UK. Foster + Partners is the architect of Rise Tower after winning a design competition launched in late 2022. Rise Tower would be more than double the height of Dubai's 828-metre Burj Khalifa and at least several hundred metres taller than the 1,000-metre-plus tower under construction in Jeddah. Contractors that have priced megatall towers in the region told MEED a 2km structure could cost about $5bn, depending on the final design. The tower and its district, known as Project Rise, sit within a larger masterplan north of Riyadh called the North Pole. The project is proposed and no construction contract has been announced (MEED, 1 October 2026).