Six famous buildings with infamous delays

Following news that the construction of the White House ballroom has been forced to stop, we look at six other high-profile projects that famously stalled.

The White House ballroom, which was halted by a judge last week, is the latest in a series of extremely significant buildings that have ground to a halt after breaking ground.

The site of the expansion threatens to become the world's most famous hole in the ground, with its future now set to be determined in the courts or by Congress.

Although the White House is almost without precedent in its significance, around the world there are numerous examples of other buildings that have been halted, leaving famous holes – The Spire and Dubai Creek Tower.

Other projects have made considerable progress before being left half complete, like the Jeddah Tower and Ryugyong Hotel, which were left towering over their surroundings as embarrassing reminders of their initial grand ambitions.

While numerous projects resume along their original plans after delays, the projects below also suggest several other, less favourable, possible outcomes for the White House project – years-long delays, major redesigns or abandonment.

Below are six of the most high-profile stalled projects:

Chicago Spire – abandoned

Through a combination of its prominent site, extremely distinctive foundations and controversy surrounding its finances, the Chicago Spire site was one of the USA's best-known construction holes for almost two decades.

Planned as the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, the 150-storey skyscraper was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. Works began in 2007 with the circulation foundations complete in 2008, before financial complications halted progress on the building.

With work paused, Calatrava placed a $11.34 million lien on the site alleging that he had not been paid for his work. With numerous unpaid debts, the site was eventually handed over to real estate company Related Midwest, a creditor on the original project, in 2014.

Shortly afterwards, the developer announced that it would not build the Calatrava-designed building.

Instead, a pair of skyscrapers designed by SOM are currently under construction on the site, with the first set to complete in 2027.

Ryugyong Hotel – incomplete after 34 years

Perhaps the most famous, or infamous, building in the country of North Korea, despite being incomplete, the Ryugyong Hotel towers over the country's capital city.

Planned to contain a hotel and housing, construction began on the 330-metre-high pyramid in 1987, with works progressing until 1992, when the collapse of the Soviet Union led to economic crisis.

At the time the building reached its full height, it was the eighth-tallest building in the world – taller than the Chrysler Building in New York – and only the second supertall skyscraper in Asia.

Work halted, the skyscraper remained as a concrete frame for the next 16 years before work resumed in 2008, with the exterior finished in 2011. Despite plans to open the building in 2013, when we included it on our list of skyscrapers completing that year, it has yet to welcome visitors.

Torre David – incomplete after 26 years

Another skyscraper that has been looming over a country's capital city for decades is the Enrique Gómez and Associates-designed Torre David in Caracas.

Officially called the Centro Financiero Confinanzas, construction of the tower began in 1990 with the skyscraper becoming the city's third-tallest building before work halted in 1994, due to the Venezuelan financial crisis.

During the housing crisis that followed, the incomplete 45-storey skyscraper was occupied by squatters, with its population peaking at 5,000. A documentary focused on the complex won a Golden Lion at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale.

In 2014 the government, which took ownership of the building in the 1990s, began clearing the building with the intention of selling it. However, plans to sell the structure failed, and in 2018 it was further damaged by an earthquake.

Jeddah Tower – restarted after seven-year delay

Designed to be the tallest building in the world, Jeddah Tower was planned as the first building to be one kilometre high.

Designed by skyscraper specialist Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the building was planned as the centrepiece of a new neighbourhood to the north of the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.

Construction of the skyscraper began in 2013 before grinding to a halt five years later, with 63 floors of the structure complete.

After a seven-year break, the construction is once again underway, with developer Kingdom Holding Company announcing that the project had restarted at a ceremony at the start of 2025.

Dubai Creek Tower – redesigned after lengthy delay

Another building on the list designed as the tallest in the world, Dubai Creek Tower was planned as a 1,300-metre-high observation tower.

The second building on this list designed by Calatrava, the spire on the waterfront area in Dubai Creek Harbour was originally set to open alongside the Dubai Expo in 2020.

Construction began in 2016 with the ruler of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, attending a groundbreaking session, and by 2018 foundation preparations were complete.

However, little progress was made beyond this, with works officially being paused during the pandemic.

Construction on the project has now restarted, although there are reports that the scale and height of the tower have been reduced and that it will no longer become the world's tallest building.

Sathorn Unique Tower – incomplete after 29 years

Another ghost tower looming over a nation's capital city, Sathorn Unique Tower in Bangkok has been around 80 per cent complete for almost 30 years.

Construction of the postmodern tower covered in classical details, which was designed by Rangsan Torsuwan, began in 1990. However, it was one of around 300 projects in the city that was abandoned when the 1997 Asian financial crisis hit.

While the majority of the city's ghost towers have now been completed, the 185-metre-high Sathorn Unique Tower remains a shell, standing as a monument to the crisis.

Residents of the city don't have to look far to see what the building may look like if it is ever complete, as the sister skyscraper – State Tower – stands nearby.

The photography is by Shutterstock unless stated otherwise.

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