Building will be more than 2,000 feet tall

CHICAGO – A huge skyscraper in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, whose height has been a closely guarded secret, will be more than 2,000 feet tall, the tower’s architect, Adrian Smith of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill of Chicago, said Tuesday. Such a height would easily make the tower the world’s tallest building.

“We can acknowledge that it is significantly taller than 2,000 feet,” Smith said of the residential-hotel project.

Called the Burj Dubai and conceived as a city within a city, the project is to combine residential, commercial, hotel, entertainment and retail facilities, according to the Emaar Properties of Dubai, the developer.