Burj Azizi: a 725-metre tower on Sheikh Zayed Road, set to be the world’s second tallest

Burj Azizi is under construction on Sheikh Zayed Road — a 725-metre skyscraper by Azizi Developments costing $1.5 billion. If completed on schedule it becomes the second-tallest building in the world. Handover is planned for 2029; Malaysia's Eversendai has already won the $299 million steel structure contract and work is running to plan.

What is inside

• A seven-star hotel, residential apartments and penthouses.
• A vertical shopping mall — a format Dubai has trialled in other towers.
• An observation deck at 649 metres — higher than the Burj Khalifa's.
• Pricing: apartments reportedly start around AED 8.6 million (about $2.3 million); penthouses reach $34 million.

The height race and what it means

The open question is whether Burj Azizi takes second place at all: Jeddah Tower, over a kilometre tall, is being completed in Saudi Arabia. For a buyer that race matters less than it appears, and here is why.

Supertall towers are their own asset class with their own economics. Upper floors sell on the view, and that view cannot be reproduced — nobody can build it next door. But height has a flip side: operating costs. Lift systems, façade maintenance, engineering and fire-safety systems in a supertall cost more per square metre, and that lands in the service charge for the whole holding period.

What to ask before reserving

• Which floor and which view. In a tower this tall, the 30th and the 100th floor are different products in both price and liquidity.
• The maintenance budget. Find the supertall's service charge rate in advance and compare it with an ordinary tower in the same district.
• Timeline and phasing. 2029 means four years of waiting. A steel contractor in place and a confirmed schedule are good signs, but an off-plan purchase at this scale calls for scrutiny of the developer's delivery record.
• What is around it. Sheikh Zayed Road is the city's main artery — excellent connectivity and, simultaneously, noise and traffic. Irrelevant on the upper floors, material on the lower ones.

Based on official Azizi Developments materials and construction progress reports.