The world's tallest building, Dubai's Burj Khalifa, has encountered some financial problems that may lead management to shut down air conditioning and elevator services on 163 floors. A dispute over thousands of dollars in unpaid service fees threatens owners who pay $55,000 per year.

 

   The dispute involves the $25,000 annual service fee paid by residents already living in the tower. The building contains 900 luxury apartments, and many tenants are already looking for new places to live. Residents and landlords who pay their rent in full have complained to the media that developer Emaar Properties is punishing other tenants over a handful of owners who are behind on their bills. Apparently some apartment owners have not paid service fees since 2012, causing all tenants to be threatened with restricted power and locked common areas. It seems that targeting only these individual residents did not achieve the desired effect, so Emaar now plans to make the entire building uninhabitable in order to force all delinquent payers to pay as soon as possible. It faced financial difficulties from the start of construction in 2004. Only a $20 billion bailout granted to the project by the Abu Dhabi royal family allowed it to be completed. Two years after opening, in 2012, 80% of the luxury apartments had been rented out, but a full 20 floors of office space stood empty.