Jane's Business calls the venture the world's largest of its kind. The Portman companies' total fee could be in nine-digit figures, although Jack Portman, CEO of John Portman & Associates and vice chairman of Portman Development, tells GlobeSt.com the fee is still being determined and that no hard figure has been established.

Design industry professionals tell GlobeSt.com a typical architectural fee on a multi million-dollar American commercial real estate venture, for example, could be as low as one half of 1% to 3% or more of the total development cost. Using that general guideline, the Portman fee could approach $150 million. Portman, however, says a number like that is speculation and may not even be realistic.

"I'm not trying to side-step your fee question," Portman tells GlobeSt.com in a telephone interview, "but there could be at least three separate contracts involved" that would radically change the fee structure. They would be for initial analysis and planning, master planning, design and development.