DELAYED11 years late40% CONFIDENCEThe January 2026 report says the district "is now slated to be completed by 2040", a year rather than a fixed day, so the pin sits at the end of that year.[1]First promised for 01/01/2030; now 11 years later. Stated: "Initial plans for the New Murabba district called for completion by 2030", but after work beyond soil excavation and pilings on the Mukaab was suspended, "it is now slated to be completed by 2040".
- Start
- Dec 31, 204040% CONFIDENCELow confidencefrom the source
New Murabba's Riyadh District Completes With the Mukaab on Hold
The 14.1 sq km district launched in 2023 was built around the Mukaab, a 400 m by 400 m cube holding roughly 2 million sq m of floor space and a domed AI-powered display. In January 2026 all work on the cube beyond soil excavation and piling was suspended while its financing and feasibility were reassessed, though development of the surrounding real estate continues; Knight Frank has estimated the district's cost at about $50 billion.
- 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"[1]
- The Mukaab's future "is now unclear, with work beyond soil excavation and pilings suspended", three of the people said, while development of the surrounding real estate is set to continue, according to five people familiar with the plans[1]
- Officials from the PIF, the Saudi government and the New Murabba project did not respond to Reuters requests for comment[1]
- As planned the Mukaab is a 400-metre by 400-metre metal cube containing a dome with an AI-powered display, "the largest on the planet", viewable from a more than 300-metre-tall ziggurat inside it[1]
- Real estate consultancy Knight Frank estimated the district would cost about $50 billion - "roughly equivalent to Jordan's GDP" - with projects commissioned so far valued at around $100 million[1]
- Initial plans called for completion by 2030; the district "is now slated to be completed by 2040", the date this pin carries[1]
- The government had previously estimated the development would house 104,000 residential units, add SR180 billion to the Kingdom's GDP and create 334,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2030[1]
- The source does not date the suspension to January 2026, nor give the district's 14.1 sq km area or the cube's roughly 2 million sq m of floor space that the pin states[1]
References 140% CONFIDENCE
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]40%arabnews.com/node/2630820/business-economyarabnews.com· Posted Sep 20, 2026· Starts Dec 31, 2040 ✓· 100% of score
The January 2026 report says the district "is now slated to be completed by 2040", a year rather than a fixed day, so the pin sits at the end of that year.
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