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The Burj Dubai's 124th Floor Observation Deck Opens Today

January 4, 2010 at 11:14 AM | by | Comments (4)

See that ridiculously tall building pictured above? That, my friends, is the Burj Dubai, a 200+ story building just completed in the United Arab Emirates that is celebrating its official birthday today. How old is it, you ask? Well, it's 0 years old really, since today is only its official opening to the public, although not all 160 accessible stories are ready for occupancy.

The only piece seeing public footsteps today is the 124-floor observation deck—because Dubai is in a tourism and property slump and knows that any way of digging extra cash from the pockets of locals and visitors is a great thing. Actual tenants won't begin moving into the Burj until February, when the owners of the Armani residences move in, to be followed by the guests of the world's first Armani Hotel in March.

And even when everyone is settled in and the workers in the business floors are typing away at their tasks, the Burj won't be full; occupancy rates may only reach 75% this year thanks to Dubai's slump, and many of the condo buyers are purchasing simply for investment. So for those of you anxious to take the elevator to the 124-floor, you'll just be visiting a husk of hope.

Related Stories:
· Dubai Opens Tallest Tower, partially leased in slump [BizWeek]
· The Impossibly High Burj Dubai Will Have 124-Floor Observation Deck [Jaunted]
· Dubai Travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: jasab]

Comments (4)

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Return to » The Burj Dubai's 124th Floor Observation Deck Opens Today


Burj Dubai

The name of the building is now called the Burj Khalifa Bin Zayed in honor of the President of the UAE; and I would visit now while the economy is in a slump for a better Dubai hotel deal.
lfktravelguru on January 4, 2010 at 1:33 PM #Permalink

Khalifa Tower

Since it's the world's tallest tower, then probably office spaces cost a lot. I guess. Anyway, for sure, everybody wants to check it out. It was previously referred to as the Dubai Tower, or the Burj Dubai (Burj is Arabic for tower), at a cost of over $1.5 billion. The cost was definitely more than a payday loan - but the tower still opened for business, and most of the high rise (putting it mildly) apartments have been sold - but they still need to sell a lot of office space in the world's tallest building to repay the Sheikh. Dubai was crippled by a debt crissis in the recession, and sought a bailout, which it got from Sheikh Khalifa of Abu Dhabi, and it was renamed Burj Khalifa, or Khalifa tower.
Julie A on January 7, 2010 at 1:13 AM #Permalink

Burj Dubai

Not to be a pessimist but what is there to see up there? Desert? Coast? Be interested to see pictures from the observation deck.
Ramblin Man on January 19, 2010 at 5:08 AM #Permalink

Burj Khalifa

Guess there is indeed not much up there to see, but is sure is an amazing feat! Just take a look at the gap with the second tallest building in the world! http://www.10biggest.com/skyscrapers.html
marcusb on February 1, 2010 at 2:58 PM #Permalink

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