Emaar Props. completes the world's tallest skyscraper - 2,717 feet

Developer Emaar Properties has completed the 160-story Burj Dubai, the world's tallest skyscraper. Mohammed Alabbar, the developer's chairman, said it cost about $1.5 billion to build the 2,717 foot metal-and-glass spire of apartments and offices. It has four swimming pools, a private library and a hotel designed by Giorgio Armani. Bill Baker, of Chicago-based architecture and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, said early designs for the Burj had it edging out the world's previous record-holder, the Taipei 101, by about 33 feet. The Taiwan tower is 1,667 feet tall. The Burj skyscraper is more than 50 stories higher than Chicago's Willis Tower, the tallest building in the U.S.