When will the construction of Jeddah Tower be complete?

TL;DR

The median completion-declaration date is February 28, 2029; the forecast assigns 41.4% to 2028, 30.9% to 2029, 11.0% to 2030, and 3.3% after 2037.

Context

Jeddah Tower is active again, not just announced again. Kingdom Holding said on October 2, 2024 that Jeddah Economic Company had signed a SAR 7.2 billion agreement with Saudi Binladin Group to resume and complete the tower, with about SAR 1.1 billion already paid, 63 of 157 floors complete, internal funding plus bank facilities, and a 42-month construction period (Kingdom Holding, October 2, 2024).

The freshest hard progress markers are strong. Kingdom Holding’s April 2026 earnings presentation put the tower at Level 99 and about 398 meters, with 274,000+ cubic meters of concrete poured, about 61% of the total, facade installed across 36+ floors, first-fix MEP in progress on office Levels 7-14, and about 6,000 workers operating 24/7 (Kingdom Holding 1Q 2026 presentation, April 2026). Thornton Tomasetti then said on April 20, 2026 that the tower had reached 100 floors and 400 meters (Thornton Tomasetti, April 20, 2026).

Evidence

The historical backbone says the target is possible but easy to miss. Burj Khalifa is the closest finished analogue: it reached 100 floors in January 2007, reached structural completion in June 2008, completed exterior cladding in September 2009, and opened on January 4, 2010 (Burj Khalifa official timeline). Applying that 100-floor-to-exterior-complete lag to Jeddah Tower’s April 20, 2026 100-floor milestone points to late 2028. Applying the 100-floor-to-opening lag points to early 2029. Shanghai Tower started construction on November 29, 2008, completed civil engineering works by the end of 2014, and began trial operation in January 2017, which is a six-to-eight-year spread for a smaller 632-meter tower (Shanghai Tower official project introduction). The current Skyscraper Center table also shows how thin the reference class is: the completed 600-meter-plus buildings are Burj Khalifa, Merdeka 118, Shanghai Tower, and Makkah Royal Clock Tower, with Jeddah Tower still marked under construction (Skyscraper Center explore data).

The full public progress series I used is below. It is not a clean engineering schedule, but it is enough to anchor the forecast.

The inside-view schedule points to 2028. Forty-two months from October 2, 2024 lands in early April 2028, while forty-two months from the January 2025 concrete restart lands in mid-2028 (Kingdom Holding, October 2, 2024; Argaam, March 25, 2026). AS+GG’s August 2028 schedule, Kingdom Holding’s 2028 CEO statement, the KONE order, and the May 2026 upper-steel contract all fit that same broad plan (Newsweek, August 14, 2025; Argaam, January 21, 2026; KONE, October 8, 2025; China Daily, May 22, 2026). The outside-view correction is that the Skyscraper Center still lists Jeddah Tower as under construction, 1,000+ meters, 167 floors, and expected completion in 2030 (Skyscraper Center Jeddah Tower page).

I modeled the date as a mixture of schedule cases. I assigned 0.4% before 2028; 43.0% to a near-plan component centered on October 1, 2028 with a 120-day standard deviation; 30.0% to a routine-slip component centered on June 1, 2029 with a 220-day standard deviation; 15.0% to a major-slip component centered on September 1, 2030 with a 380-day standard deviation; 8.3% to a long-pause-but-completed component centered on June 1, 2033 with an 800-day standard deviation; and 3.3% after the 2037 upper bound. After converting that to the required buckets, the calendar-year masses are 0.4% before 2028, 41.4% in 2028, 30.9% in 2029, 11.0% in 2030, 5.3% in 2031, 2.7% in 2032, 1.7% in 2033, 1.4% in 2034, 1.0% in 2035, 0.6% in 2036, 0.3% in 2037, and 3.3% after 2037.

What's non-obvious

The 2028 target is more credible than Jeddah Tower’s long pause makes it sound. This restart has a named completion contract, a disclosed contract value, a funding route, a large workforce, a five-day floor cycle, system procurement, and a May 2026 upper-steel work package (Kingdom Holding, October 2, 2024; Argaam, March 25, 2026; KONE, October 8, 2025; China Daily, May 22, 2026). I do not treat 2028 as simple marketing.

The other non-obvious point cuts the other way: 100 floors overstates closeness to construction completion. In April 2026 the tower was around 400 meters, but facade was only installed across 36+ floors and first-fix MEP was reported only on office Levels 7-14 (Kingdom Holding 1Q 2026 presentation, April 2026). The structure can top out well before the tower is architecturally closed, vertically transported, tested, and ready for a credible completion declaration. That is why the mode is late 2028 but the median is early 2029.

Limitations

There is no public critical-path schedule for structural top-out, spire completion, facade close-in, elevator installation, fire and life-safety systems, commissioning, handover, or the exact declaration that will resolve this question. The best live data comes from Kingdom Holding, project engineers, and suppliers, which are close to the project and therefore informed but not neutral (Kingdom Holding 1Q 2026 presentation, April 2026; Thornton Tomasetti, April 20, 2026; KONE, October 8, 2025).

The resolution wording also leaves boundary risk. If widely accepted media treats exterior completion as construction completion, resolution can land in 2028. If the first clear statement waits for practical completion, testing, or opening, the same physical project can resolve in 2029 or 2030. I interpreted completion as the earliest clear public statement that structural and architectural construction of the tower itself is finished, not first occupancy and not completion of Jeddah Economic City.