Saudi Arabia has suspended planned construction of a colossal cube-shaped skyscraper at the center of a downtown development in Riyadh while it reassesses the project’s financing and feasibility, four people familiar with the matter said.
The Mukaab, at the center of Riyadh’s New Murabba development, is the latest fantastical gigaproject linked to Saudi’s Vision 2030 to be curtailed or delayed as the kingdom’s $925 billion sovereign wealth fund scales back ambitions to manage costs and prioritize spending.
The kingdom is pivoting from heavy expenditure on futuristic projects that have dominated Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030, such as NEOM’s The Line, to initiatives seen as more pressing and potentially profitable.
Projects in focus now include infrastructure for World Expo 2030 and the 2034 World Cup, the sprawling $60 billion Diriyah mixed-use cultural zone and the Qiddiya tourism megaproject, five people familiar with the matter said.
The repositioning also reflects mounting fiscal pressures as oil prices remain well below levels needed to fund the ambitious transformation agenda.
WORK BEYOND SOIL EXCAVATION, PILINGS SUSPENDED
The Mukaab was planned as a 400-metre by 400-metre metal cube containing a dome with an AI-powered display, the largest on the planet, that visitors could observe from a more than 300-metre-tall ziggurat – or terraced structure – inside it.
“When you enter Mukaab, you enter another world,” CEO Michael Dyke told attendees at a Riyadh conference in December, acknowledging difficulties realizing the project.
“Trying to solve for something that doesn’t exist today, that’s quite challenging,” he said.
Its future is now unclear, with work beyond soil excavation and pilings suspended, three of the people said. Development of the surrounding real estate is set to continue, five people familiar with the plans said.
The sources include people familiar with the project’s development and people privy to internal deliberations at the PIF.
Officials from PIF, the Saudi government and the New Murabba project did not respond to requests for comment.
PIF SHIFTING FOCUS TO LOGISTICS, AI, MINING
Reuters reported in October that the PIF was shifting strategy to focus on logistics, mining, AI and other sectors promising better near-term returns, as pressure mounted following an $8 billion writedown on gigaproject investments at the end of 2024.
The kingdom is currently conducting a comprehensive review of several Vision 2030 mega projects.
Saudi Economy Minister Faisal al-Ibrahim told Reuters last week: “We’re very transparent. We’re not going to shy away from saying we had to shift this project, delay it, re-scope it,” without mentioning a specific project.
Over the weekend, Saudi Arabia said it would indefinitely postpone hosting the 2029 Asian Winter Games set to take place at Trojena, another NEOM megaproject that has faced delays.
But the Mukaab is the first project in the Saudi capital reported to be reassessed for feasibility.
The structure was billed as large enough to fit 20 Empire State Buildings, and feature around 2 million square meters of interior floor space, making it the world’s largest single-built structure.
