(Yicai Global) March 24 -- A consortium of firms, including Shanghai Municipal Investment Group, broke ground on a 99-story building that is expected to become the eastern megacity's tallest building in Puxi, the historic center of Shanghai.

The consortium, which also has Shanghai Industrial Development and Shanghai Construction Group, started constructing the skyscraper in the North Bund area today, The Paper reported. They won the right to use the land in 2021.

The building, which costs CNY19.3 billion (USD2.8 billion) to build and will have a total floor area of about 450,000 square meters, is slated to be ready in 2030. It is designed by New York-headquartered Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and East China Architectural Design and Research Institute. It will be used for business, offices, hospitality, and sightseeing.

North Bund, an emerging area located west of the Huangpu River that divides the city into two, has scheduled 22 major property projects this year. Nine projects, including the above-mentioned skyscraper, broke ground in the neighborhood today with a floor area of 1.03 million sqm and a total investment of CNY40.3 billion.

The 632-meter-tall Shanghai Tower, located in Pudong, east of the Huangpu, is still the tallest building in China and the third-tallest in the world with 127 stories above the ground, according to public information.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi