Jordan Gate Towers

The project is located on an elevated area 985 metres (3,232 ft) above mean sea level, in the Umm Uthainah Al-Gharbi neighbourhood of West Amman near the 6th intersection on Zahran Street.[1]

The total cost of the project is $300 million, was designed by late Palestinian-Jordanian architect Ja'afar Tuqan, owned by Jordan Gate Company, consulted by alnasser + partners, managed by ALNOUR Construction Management LLC, the contractor is Anas Anani & Partners Contracting Company, and the Aluminum & Glazing sub-contractor is Turn Up AlFaisal Company.

Total building area is about 220,000 m² (2,400,000 sq ft), and contains: two 38-storey 180 metres high-rises (named "North and South Towers"), 135,000 m² (1,450,000 sq ft), and connected by a three-storey podium, 14,000 m² (150,000 sq ft).[2]

The North Tower, will host residential apartments, while the South Tower will host a 200-room hotel, residential apartments, and offices.

The multi-storey podium will host a shopping mall with 70 brands, swimming pools, conference halls and restaurants.

In addition, there are five underground parking storeys, 71,000 m² (760,000 sq ft), that have a capacity for 1550 passenger vehicles.[3]

The area of land where the project now stands, used to be a private property, and was sold to Greater Amman Municipality in 1959, for the purpose of turning it into a public park. In 1978, part of the land was designated for investment, which in 1984 became a hotel named Amrah (Arabic: عمرة) (now Crowne Plaza Amman), along with a water tower.

In 2004, the park, 27,000 m² (290,000 sq ft), was sold to Bahrain's GFH Financial Group, and on May 29, 2005, King Abdullah II laid the foundation stone for the Jordan Gate Project.[4] Excavation works for started in June 2005, the buildings started rising above ground level in 2006, breaking in mid-2007 the record for the tallest in Amman, surpassing the Le Royal Hotel Amman of 105 m (344 ft) high (since 2013, Amman Rotana, 188 m (617 ft), has been the tallest). In 2008, glazing works started, and the towers topped-out at the end of the year.

In 2009 and 2010, construction was slow and intermittent; mainly due to financial hardship between the contractor and the owner following the financial crisis of 2007–2008,[5] and also due to the northern tower's crane collapse that stalled works for several months.[6]

Jordan Gate Towers when completed and Amman's Skyline.

The Jordanian flag projected on the facade at night during celebrations of Independence Day in May 2022, taken westwards.

Satellite imagery of Jordan Gate Towers on November 11, 2022.

Taken eastwards, Jordan Gate Towers as seen in 2009 during sunrise from the West Bank Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, more than 55 km away.

In 2011, the financial hardship caused construction to halt at 70%.[7] The site was abandonded for many years, and the buildings have undergone weathering and corrosion. In May 2016, after many failed negotiations, the conflict between the owner and the contractor had approached a settlement, that nonetheless didn't last for long.[8] In mid-2017, construction works resumed for some time, which mainly focused on facade cleaning, tower crane replacing, and installing a steel structure on roof for glazing.

In February 2022, Greater Amman Municipality entered as a partner, by acquiring 31% (amounts for 50 million Jordanian Dinars) of the capital of the Jordan Gate Company that owns the project.[9] The bid referral for the first package of works related to the implementation of the external façade for the buildings took place in December 2022.[10]

At night in 2007, taken westwards.

Seen at night from Dabouq neighbourhood in northwest Amman in 2007.

Covered in low clouds with the Crown Plaza Amman Hotel at night in 2007. The towers are displaying an advertisement for the Jordanian telecommunication company Zain.

South Tower in 2007, concrete slab casting works are seen on roof.

North Tower crane (left) collapsed in May 2009 after lifting a heavy load, with dismantling efforts in the background.

Finally, in January 2023, construction resumed, and will be completed by December 2024.[7][11]

According to Greater Amman Municipality strategic plan for the years 2022-2026, there are three construction phases to complete the Jordan Gate Towers project, stretching from December 2022 till December 2024, as follows:

1. From January till October of 2023, implementing external facade works.[12]
2. From mid-2023 till December 2024, interior design and electromechanical works to transform the North Tower from an office tower according to the original design into a residential tower consisting of luxury apartments with distinctive specifications, as well as the podium.[13]
3. Completion works of the South Tower, later in 2023, after signing a contract with a hotel company, and then the timetable for implementation will be prepared.[14]

There were three major accidents during the project's construction from 2006 to 2009:[15]

The project has been subjected to a lot of criticism since even before its construction, mainly due to:

• Its conflict with the skyline of Amman.

• Noise pollution that comes from construction works around the clock.

• Revealing many surrounding houses and the lack of privacy.
• Reflection of sunlight from the glazing.

• The weak surrounding infrastructure such as electrical, water supply, and wastewater networks. Moreover, traffic congestion is on top of all concerns, especially that the neighbourhood is already crowded.

• List of tallest buildings in Amman
• List of twin buildings and structures
•  Jordan portal