State Life Tower likely to open by end of year

Anticipated final cost of the 22-storey building jumps to Rs1.54 billion

ISLAMABAD: Constructing a 22-story building has taken the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan (SLIC) 22 years and the building is still incomplete.

However, the tower is expected to be completed and rented out by the end of 2018.

Briefing a Senate standing committee, SLIC Chairman Shoaib Mir said the tower, standing between NICL building and the Saudi-Pak Tower on Islamabad’s Jinnah Avenue, will be completed by the end of the current year. He said the corporation had already started planning its marketing strategy.

The building which consists of 19 floors and three basements and is spread over an area of 298,600 sq ft was initially estimated to cost Rs1.35 billion.

The anticipated final cost of the building, however, has shot up to Rs1.54 billion due to years of delay. Chairperson Senate Standing Committee on Commerce, who had sought the briefing by the corporation over the issue, said the work on the building was launched 22 years ago. “This building was being constructed when we were young and has not been completed yet,” said Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Commerce Senator Shibli Faraz.

SLIC high-ups said plot demarcation issues with the Capital Development Authority, high water table, and design revision following the 2005 earthquake were some of the reasons for delays. They said during excavation they had to construct French drain due to high ground water table, and then work was suspended in the wake of 2005 earthquake and structure redesigned for stability.

Mir said they would preferably rent out the building to international corporations once it is complete.

The building’s civil works were finalised by the contractor on December 31 last year, while boiler and ventilation fans’ expected delivery is in March 2018. Another hurdle in the building’s completion is its lifts which were imported but the contractor shipped geared lifts instead of the required gearless ones. The corporation is yet to sort out this issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2018.