The February 20, 2025 article “Ghost Towers: 10 of the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers That Were Left to Rot” collects ten striking high-rise projects, from a 459-foot Beirut tower to Tianjin’s nearly 2,000-foot Goldin Finance 117. Its heights and selection are the article’s, not a verified global ranking. Nor is “left to rot” a reliable description of every building’s present condition: Goldin’s construction was reported to have resumed in 2026.
What this list does—and does not—establish
The ten projects below are ordered by the heights given in the February 2025 Indian Defence Review article. Those figures have not been independently remeasured here, and the article does not establish a ranking method or prove that these are the world’s ten tallest abandoned or unfinished skyscrapers. “Abandoned,” “unfinished,” and “troubled” also describe different conditions; a stalled project may later restart, while a vacant building may face demolition or redevelopment.
The project histories and status descriptions below are attributed to that 2025 article unless another source is identified. Current occupancy, construction, demolition, ownership, and public access were not established for nine of the ten sites.
The ten towers, from shortest to tallest
| Project and location | Height in the 2025 article | What the article reports |
|---|---|---|
| Beirut Trade Center (Burj al-Murr), Lebanon | 459 feet | Construction was nearly complete when the Lebanese Civil War began; the article says the tower was used as a sniper post. Its present status was not independently established. |
| Plaza Tower, New Orleans | 531 feet | The article links vacancy to mold complaints and post-Hurricane Katrina gutting, and reported in February 2025 that demolition was being prepared. That reported plan is not confirmation of current demolition status. |
| 900 Chestnut, St. Louis | 588 feet | The article identifies it as the former AT&T headquarters, says it had been empty since 2017, and describes a proposed residential and entertainment redevelopment. The vacancy and redevelopment details were not independently verified. |
| Sathorn Unique, Bangkok | 607 feet | The article attributes the construction halt to the 1997 Asian financial crisis and describes the building as about 80% complete. A 2010 WebUrbanist account also identifies the 47-story tower as part of Bangkok’s abandoned-building legacy after the 1997–1998 economic meltdown. [WebUrbanist, 2010] |
| Centro Financiero Confinanzas (Tower of David), Caracas | 623 feet | The article says the tower was intended as a financial center, later housed a large informal settlement, and was cleared in an eviction in 2014. These details were not independently checked here. |
| 1 Seaport, New York City | 670 feet | The article describes construction stoppage and legal disputes following engineering problems. Its current construction, ownership, and legal status were not independently verified. |
| Oceanwide Plaza, Los Angeles | 677 feet | The article characterizes the development as stalled after financing problems and mentions graffiti and a high projected completion cost. Current status and cost were not independently verified. |
| Ryugyong Hotel, Pyongyang | 1,082 feet | The article says the 105-story project began in 1987, construction halted, and later exterior work included LED displays while the interior remained unfinished. Present interior and operational status were not independently verified. |
| SkyCity, Philippines | 1,099 feet | The article says the project did not advance beyond excavation and attributes its failure to local objections, legal disputes, and loss of funding. Its precise identity, history, and current site status need independent clarification. |
| Goldin Finance 117, Tianjin, China | 1,957 feet | The article’s height is close to Guinness World Records’ 595.5 metres (about 1,954 feet), recorded in September 2015 for its tallest-unoccupied-building record. That is a historical record entry, not an update on occupancy in 2026. [Guinness World Records] |
Why skyscraper projects can stall
The list spans very different disruptions rather than one shared cause. The article associates some projects with war or economic upheaval, others with engineering problems, legal disputes, financing shortfalls, or local objections. These are the article’s accounts, not a uniform independently verified investigation of each project.
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Economic shocks and financing
Sathorn Unique is linked in the 2025 article to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. WebUrbanist’s 2010 report described Bangkok’s unfinished towers as fallout from the 1997–1998 meltdown and estimated that 320 high-rises had been left unfinished at that time. That was a dated estimate, not a current count of abandoned buildings. [WebUrbanist, 2010]
The article also attributes financing problems to Oceanwide Plaza and loss of funding to the proposed SkyCity project. It does not provide independently verified financial records for either explanation.
Conflict, disputes, and technical problems
The article connects Beirut Trade Center’s interrupted completion to the onset of Lebanon’s civil war, and describes 1 Seaport as caught in disputes after engineering problems. These accounts illustrate how a tower’s unfinished state can reflect events beyond the building site, but do not by themselves establish either project’s current condition.
Goldin Finance 117: an unfinished tower with changing status
Goldin Finance 117 is the tallest structure in this particular list. Guinness World Records recorded the 595.5-metre building in September 2015 as the tallest unoccupied building; its record date should not be mistaken for a current occupancy report.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What “abandoned” means for a building
A halted project, a vacant completed structure, and a building undergoing a change of use are not interchangeable. The label “ghost tower” can capture a striking appearance, but it does not answer whether a property is structurally safe, legally accessible, under active redevelopment, or scheduled for demolition. Those questions require current, site-specific information; the February 2025 feature cannot settle them for the other nine projects.
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Do not treat a dramatic photograph or an “abandoned” label as permission to enter. A 2012 travel account warns that exploring abandoned sites can be dangerous and illegal and notes that many are off-limits. This is a general, dated caution, not legal advice about any particular property. [The Guardian, 2012]
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