Construction of the world's highest non -occupied skyscraper can resume next week, almost 10 years after work, according to Chinese state media.
The 597-meter long (1,959-foot) Goldin Finance 117, which fell to the Northern Chinese port city of Tianjin, but has not been completed since 2015 in the midst of major financial problems, is now expected to be completed in 2027.
On 117 floors high, the tower was set on the longest skyscraper in China when he broke site in 2008. The rising structure was built with the help of “mega columns” to protect against strong wind and earthquakes, while the design of “walking stick” was covered with a diamond -shaped atrium that contains a swimming pool and observation deck. According to Architects P&T Group, it was ready to contain offices and a five -star hotel on the top floors.
But the project came to a halt after the Chinese stock market crash of 2015 who questioned the future of Goldin Properties in Hong Kong. The real estate developer, whose founder Pan Sutong was once the richest business people in Hong Kong, has since gone into liquidation.
Original plans divided the project into three office zones, with a top -storey hotel, according to Architects P&T Group. – Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A new building permit – which reportedly states a contract value of nearly 569 million Yuan ($ 78 million) – suggests that the title of the defined developer may have been removed from the name of the building, according to the state media. It is unclear whether plans for the use of the “SuperTall” skyscraper remain unchanged. Neither P&T Group nor BGI Engineering Consultants, the state -related company mentioned on the permit, responded to CNN's requests for comments.
In the past decade, the abandoned skyscrapers that have been put China's Skylines have become symbolic of the country's real estate problems. In 2020, the Ministry of Housing and the National Development and Reform Commission issued guidelines that prohibit new towers from more than 500 meters (1,640 feet) high – a movement that was partly aimed at cleaning the speculative financing that is often the basis of cloud craper projects.
On Monday, the Chinese Greenland group announced that the work will also resume on the previously stuck Chengdu Greenland Tower in the southwestern city of Chengdu, local media reported in the state. The construction of the 468-meter long (1,535-foot) skyscraper has been won since 2023, after the state-owned developer suffered financial problems, according to Reuters.
The fact that two controversial projects resume at the same time is unlikely a coincidence, said Qiao Shitong, professor of law at Duke University School of Law and the author of two books on Chinese real estate.
“The National Government has made it clear that it wants to stabilize the real estate market,” said Qiao during a video call, adding that local authorities encouraged to “breathe new life into the wrestling sector. “It identifies on the market – (it is) not just about the skyscrapers themselves.”
The tower broke off site in 2008 and fell out in 2015, but has almost a decade unfinished. – Cost photo/Nurphoto/Shutterstock
Although the new financing of the Tianjin Tower still has to be announced, Qiao is of the opinion that the state has offered investments and debt restructuring to start the project.
“(Supertall cloud scrapers) are not necessarily the most efficient projects and they do not necessarily make a profit, but they are indicators,” he said. “By breathing new life and completed this project, the government at least hopes that people can increase the trust of people.”
For local officials, completing abandoned skyscrapers is also about 'the image of the city', said Fei Chen, a reader in architecture and city design at UK's University of Liverpool. “They don't want a project to be unfinished and so, which is a thorn in the eye for everyone.”
However, Chen emphasized that the resumption of projects in Tianjin and Chengdu will probably not announce a return to the “vanity projects” in recent years.
“The government is aware that although these (skyscraper) projects have a number of positive effects in the area, they require too much investments and are not financially or environmentally friendly … I think the general trend in urban development is not changed by the fact that some projects are resumed. I think it is more about the efforts of the local government to improve their city.”
The skyscraper was viewed from street level in the Xiqing district of Tianjin. – Cost photo/Nurphoto/Shutterstock
Despite economic care and tightening of the regulations, China continues to dominate the global skyscraper construction. Of the 133 skyscrapers of 200 meters or higher all over the world last year, 91 were in China, according to data from the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
Chen said that skyscrapers, although expensive to build, are often used by developers as “magnets” for investments in the area. Goldin Finance 117, for example, was part of a broader development with villas, commercial buildings and offices, as well as a conference center, entertainment center and Polo Club. The fate of these projects is not explicitly described in the new building permit, although it is reportedly describing the development of various 'commercial corridors'.
But with slow sales of real estate and the struggle of office occupation in China, the economic viability of the project in question remains, according to Qiao. “It's a huge investment,” he added “and I really don't know who is going to buy or rent this commercial space.”
During the decade-long break, Tianjin welcomed another SuperTall cloud scraper-the Tianjin CTF Finance Center, which is currently the world's eighth highest completed building at 530 meters (1,739 feet). Goldin Finance 117 has since been surpassed in height by both the winding Shanghai Tower and the Ping a financial center in Shenzhen, which means that it would now only be the third longest (and the world's sixth longest) skyscraper when completed.
It will fall to eighth worldwide if the kilometer-high Jeddah tower of Saudi Arabia-where construction is also recently resumed, after a long-standing interruption and Burj Azizi of Dubai both later completed this decade.
CNN's Fred HE and Hassan Tayir contributed to this report.
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