Goldin Finance 117, or China 117 Tower— it is the tallest abandoned building in the world, standing at a staggering height of 597 meters. Situated on the fringes of Tianjin, which is China’s seventh largest city, this skyscraper was meant to be part of an opulent real estate development and take center stage as its grand centerpiece. The construction work kick-started back in 2008 but came to a grinding halt just two years later in 2010 owing to the repercussions of the Great Recession that had swept across global economies. Even though there was some hope rekindled when work resumed in 2011 with expectations of completing it between 2018 and 2019, that too died out as construction was again stopped in September five years later after resumption— in 2015— never to be continued ever since then.
In its prime, Goldin Finance 117 stood as the fifth tallest edifice across the globe. The high-rise was intended to reach 128 floors above ground level: 117 floors tailored for hotel and commercial purposes, and 11 floors meant for mechanical and operational functions. Its distinctive design allowed human occupancy up to the highest floor— a feature that placed it only behind Dubai’s Burj Khalifa in terms of the highest habitable floor space. Regrettably, not even a single soul resides within the confines of this entire skyscraper.
The project’s downfall can be attributed to several factors. The developer, Goldin Group, was a new player in the Chinese market and lacked government backing, necessitating full self-financing of the development. The 2008 financial crisis further strained the company’s resources. By 2011, construction resumed and progress seemed promising until 2015 when, after a topping-out ceremony, construction ceased again. The bursting of the Chinese stock market bubble left Goldin without the financial reserves to continue.
Critics argue that developing such a luxurious project in a second-tier city like Tianjin was flawed from the start. The project failed to attract the elite clientele it targeted, similar to attempting to build New York’s Hudson Yards on the outskirts of Philadelphia. By 2018, hopes of completing Goldin Finance 117 had faded, leaving the 600-meter skyscraper abandoned.
Today, Goldin Finance 117 stands as a “ghostscraper” and a cautionary tale for developers and the Chinese Government. In response to this and similar failures, authorities issued a decree in 2020 to significantly limit the scale and number of skyscrapers being built across the country.
