South Korea’s Lotte Hotels & Resorts is being considered for a role in the Iconic Tower project in Kazakhstan’s new city of Alatau. This was announced at a meeting of the Alatau City Council chaired by Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, the government’s press service reported.
Earlier, the Iconic Towers complex was announced as the first and tallest skyscraper development in Alatau. At the current stage, private investment in the 80-story, 272-meter-high complex exceeds $800 million. The complex is scheduled to be commissioned by the end of 2029.
The complex will consist of two towers of different heights built on a shared three-story podium. The 80-story tower is planned to house an international five-star hotel, where Lotte could potentially be involved, while the second, 56-story tower will house Class A offices and residential units. The complex will have a total area of 276,800 square meters, including 58,000 square meters allocated to cultural spaces and a mall.
China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) serves as the project’s developer and development manager. The building was designed by U.K. architecture and design firm Zaha Hadid Architects and U.S. firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM).
The Iconic Tower project’s executive committee includes Wong Heang Fine, an adviser to President Tokayev on the design of Alatau City; Yuriy Tskhay, chairman of the board of directors of Caspian Group and the 72nd-richest Kazakhstani, according to Forbes Kazakhstan, with a net worth of $100 million; Vyacheslav Kim, the sole shareholder of Alatau City Bank, co-founder of Kaspi.kz and Kazakhstan’s richest person, according to Forbes Kazakhstan, with a net worth of $7.1 billion; and Gao Bo, chairman of CSCEC International.
Lotte’s interest in the region is not limited to Alatau. Previously, the Development Bank of Kazakhstan reported that it was reviewing an application for financing from Sensata Invest, owned by Tasbolat Abdullin and Askar Duisenbayev, to construct and launch a Lotte hotel in Almaty.
Lotte Hotels & Resorts is South Korea’s largest luxury hotel operator. Founded in 1972, the company operates hotels in South Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Uzbekistan, Myanmar, the U.S. and Russia.
