The world's tallest unoccupied building to resume construction — after a decade-long shutdown
Construction on the Goldin Finance 117 tower in Tianjin is set to resume after 10 years, CNN Style reported.
Progress on the 1,959-foot-tall tower — making it the tallest unoccupied building in the world — stalled after the Chinese stock market crash of 2015. Now, a new construction permit means that this 'ghost tower' can progress towards a projected completion date of 2027.
6 The tower rises 1,959 feet above Tianjin.
NurPhoto via Getty Images
6 China 117 topped out in 2015 before progress ground to a 10-year halt.
NurPhoto via Getty Images
6 The completion of the tower may be a part of a broader push by China to stabilize its fraught real estate market.
CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Chinese state media announced last week that construction of the 117-story tower, aptly nicknamed 'China 117,' could resume, CNN Style reported.
Daring urban explorers have flocked to the imposing structure over the past decade, chronicling their death-defying climbs in viral videos, including Russian couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Kuznetsov in 2016.
The skyscraper, which broke ground in 2008, was constructed with a system of 'mega columns' to brace it against strong winds and earthquakes. The impressively lean tower was designed to host three office zones and a five-star hotel on the upper floors, according to architects P&T Group. A diamond-shaped atrium containing a pool and an observation deck will top the building.
6 Four 'mega columns' run up the 117-story tower.
NurPhoto via Getty Images
6 The tower was designed to host three office zones and a five-star hotel on the upper floors, according to the architect.
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Goldin Properties Holdings, the Hong Kong-based real estate developer behind the site, has since gone into liquidation, CNN reported.
The edifice was originally destined to be the centerpiece of a larger, mixed-use development catering to the upper echelons of the northern port city. CNN Style reported that the wider development scheme for attractions like a convention center and a polo club remains uncertain, but the new permit reportedly nods to 'commercial corridors.'
6 The skyscraper stands much taller than its neighbors.
CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
The resumption of construction on both the Goldin Finance 117 Tower and the Chengdu Greenland Tower — a 1,535-foot skyscraper that has been on hold since 2023 — coincides with frequent headlines about China's abandoned skylines and ghost cites.
'The national government has made it clear it wants to stabilize the real estate market,' said Qiao Shitong, a law professor at Duke University School of Law and expert on Chinese real estate, told CNN Style.
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