People will be able to drive cars inside the 'female Burj Khalifa', says Emaar founder Mohammed Alabbar
Mohammed Alabbar, founder of Emaar and Noon, has announced the construction of a “female” Burj Khalifa called Dubai Creek Tower.
Customers will be able to drive electric cars through this future shopping center in Dubai, according to Khaleej Times.
During a speech at the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival (SEF) 2024, he revealed that the mall would be located in Dubai Creek Harbour. “We're trying something exciting,” she said.
“This will be the first time cars will be able to enter a shopping center, so it will be something unique. “We didn’t come up with this ourselves, we learned it from somewhere.”
Alabbar spoke openly about his ideas and failures during a session titled “Stunning Success: What It Takes to Build a Business Empire.”
He explained why the company decided to abandon its plans to build a kilometer-long tower at that location. “We realized we had made a mistake,” he said. “We built these towers because we make money from the apartments that face the tower. We don't make any money from the tower. For example, everyone in Paris wants an apartment with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Our buildings are only 50 stories high, so why do we have to build a kilometer-high tower?”
He added that the company viewed the Creek skyscraper as the “female” Burj Khalifa and that the tower's initial appearance will be revealed in the coming months. Covering an area of six million square metres, the Dubai Creek Port project is envisioned as the “new city centre”.
The 66-year-old also spoke about how his life had changed since Emaar became a listed company. “If you have a publicly traded company, you have to tell people every 90 days what you've done, it's a big challenge,” he said.
“You can not hide. Nowadays, if I go to visit a city and news comes out about it, I get a letter from the stock market asking me what I am doing there, what investment I will make and what the viability is.”
However, he said he enjoyed the challenge because it gave him discipline. “There are a lot of processes and security because this is public money,” she said.
“It really teaches you great discipline. I think it makes you a better person because everything has to be planned.”
