Jordan Gate

Jordan Gate (Arabic: بوابة الأردن) is a high-class commercial and residential project currently located in the Wadi Al-Seer district of Amman, Jordan. It consists of two high-rise buildings connected by a multi-story podium.

Since its start in 2005, the project has gone through years of suspension due to financial issues between the owner and contractor following the 2007-2008 financial crisis, in addition to many incidents. Construction works resumed in January 2023, and as of June 2024, the external facades of the buildings have been completed, with tower cranes dismantled. Internal finishing works, including electromechanical maintenance, are about to commence later in 2024.

Overview
The project is located on an elevated area of land about 985 m above mean sea level, in the Umm Uthainah Al-Gharbi neighbourhood of West Amman near the 6th intersection on Zahran Street.The total cost is about $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 main contractor is Anas Anani & Partners Contracting Company, and the sub-contractor for aluminum and glass is Turn Up Al-Faisal Company.

The total building area is about 220,000 sqm, and contains 20,000 tonnes of steel reinforcement. It is divided into three parts: two 38 storey high-rises, North and South, at a height of 162 and 145 meters, respectively, and with an area of 135,000 sqm. The third part is a three-storey podium, with an area of 14,000 sqm. There are five underground parking storeys, with an area of 71,000 sqm, that have a capacity for 1550 passenger vehicles.

The North Tower will 215 host residential apartments, the South Tower will host a hotel and serviced apartments, and the podium will host a shopping mall with 72 brands.Since they are unobstructed by any topography or other buildings, the towers are visible from almost all neighbourhoods of Amman and many other Jordanian governorates, and when the horizon is clear, they can be observed by the naked eye from the West Bank tens of kilometers away.

History
The area of land where the project currently stands used to be private property, and was sold to the Greater Amman Municipality in 1959.

In 2005, the site was a public park called "Amrah", with an area of 28500 m2, and was sold to GFH Financial House for 5.9 million Jordanian Dinars. On 29 May, King Abdullah II laid the foundation stone for the Jordan Gate Project.Excavation works started shortly thereafter, and in November foundation works had begun.

The structures began rising above ground level in 2006, but were interrupted by two major incidents: a fire on 25 August and a storey collapse on 12 September.

By January 2007, Greater Amman Municipality held a share of 10% in the project's capital but decided to sell it because the project hadn't secured a building license. The Jordan Gate Company paid the municipality a total of $40 million, with $25 million earmarked for traffic and infrastructure improvements around the site, and the remaining $15 million for the municipality's share. That year, progress gained momentum and the buildings were rising rapidly by one storey per week, thanks to the slip forming method. In August, the structures broke record for the tallest buildings in Amman(since 2013, the Rotana Amman has held this title). A brief fire broke out on 10 October on the 35th storey of the North Tower.

In 2008, progress reached 80% with the towers topping-out and glazing works beginning.

During 2009 and 2010, construction was slow and intermittent due to financial hardship between the contractor (Al-Hamad) and the owner (Al-Bayan Holding) following the financial crisis of 2007–2008, and also due to the North Tower's crane collapse, which stalled works for several weeks.

In 2011, the financial hardship caused construction to halt, and the site was abandoned for years, leading to weathering and corrosion of the buildings.

In May 2016, after many failed negotiations, the conflict between the owner and the contractor reached a settlement. From March till September 2017, construction works resumed temporarily, including external façade cleaning, bracing against seismic loads, steel jacketing, formwork and casting, scaffolding, coring and anchoring, and roof insulation. However, the contractor later withdrew from the project, causing another halt.

In February 2022, Greater Amman Municipality announced that it re-entered the project as a partner, acquiring 31% (amounting to 50 million Jordanian Dinars) of the capital of the Jordan Gate Company to put an end to the "investment failure" in the heart of the city. The bid referral for the first package of works related to the implementation of the buildings' external façade took place in December.

Finally, in January 2023, construction works resumed. Later that year in December, the glazing works on the North Tower were completed, and its tower crane was dismantled. Five months later, in May 2024, the glazing works on the South Tower were also finished, and its tower crane was removed.

Incidents
There were four major incidents during the project's construction between 2006 and 2009, including two fires, a storey collapse, and a tower crane collapse:

Fires
In the early morning hours of 25 August 2006, a huge fire broke out on the eighth storey of the North Tower. No injuries were reported.

On 10 October 2007, due to an electrical surge that reached the wood of the scaffolding, a brief fire broke out at about 3 o'clock in the morning on the 35th storey of the North Tower. No injuries were reported.

Storey Collapse
At around 8 o'clock in the evening on 12 September 2006, less than three weeks after the fire of August, part of the 3rd storey's slab of the South Tower collapsed due to a failure in the scaffolding, killing two Egyptian workers and injuring 25 others. Works on the project were halted for several months following a decision by Greater Amman Municipality, in order to gain a building license.

Tower Crane Collapse
On 16 May 2009, the crane of the North Tower collapsed after it was overloaded. An Egyptian worker was hospitalized, and 15 surrounding houses were evacuated to nearby hotels. The dismantling process started in June and took 3 days and required three additional  cranes that were imported from abroad. It was a complex procedure due to the height of the crane, 220 meters, and because it was surrounded by a crowded neighbourhood. Bags of sand and polystyrene plates were put at ground level to absorb the kinetic energy if the dismantled crane fell during the process.

Criticism
The project drew a lot of criticism since even before its construction, mainly due to:


 * The project started without gaining a building permit.
 * 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.
 * The weak infrastructure such as electrical, water supply, and wastewater networks, in the neighbourhood. Moreover, traffic congestion is on top of all concerns, especially that surrounding streets are already crowded.