Fresh hope for Europe's tallest abandoned skyscraper as millionaire buyer on brink of snapping up 800ft half-built ruin

The Sun

29-04-2025

HOPES for Europe's tallest abandoned building have been revived - after a real estate tycoon has been given more time to seal the deal.
Dieter Becken, 75, has been given a few more weeks to secure the funds to buy and complete the unfinished Elbtower skyscraper in Hamburg, Germany.
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Originally slated to soar to 800 feet, the structure currently sits at a mere 328 feet.
Becken now has until June 2025 to obtain the cash and finalise a deal to buy the tower, according to Hamburger Abendblatt.
He previously had until the end of April but the insolvency administrator has now announced an extension.
The administrator said: "This agreement is thus extended by the period necessary for the continuation and possible conclusion of the negotiations between the parties."
The defiant millionaire said earlier this month: "I believe in this outstanding project."
Construction on the ambitious project began in 2021.
But the project was halted in 2023, after Austrian investor Rene Benko, 47, went bankrupt.
The skyscraper is located in Hamburg's Hafen City district, near the city's famous Elbphilharmonie concert hall.
The building was set to host a Nobu hotel and restaurant, risk adviser Aon and a local bank.
If completed, the tower would be, by far, the tallest building in Hamburg and the third tallest in Germany.
It will be 210 feet taller than the Gherkin and around 217 feet shorter than the Shard in London.
The construction costs amount to 700 million euros (£587 million), according to estimates by PropertyEU.
It comes as construction will be resumed on a giant skyscraper in China that has stood unfinished for nearly a decade.
Work on Goldin Finance 117, nicknamed The Walking Stick due to its architectural shape, came to an abrupt halt in 2015 following the Chinese stock market crash.
The "ghost-scraper" has loomed large over the northern city of Tianjin ever since.
At a whopping 1,959 feet, it is nearly twice as tall as The Shard.
But it won't get to claim the title as China's tallest building.
Two bigger skyscrapers, the Shanghai Tower and Shenzhen's Ping An Finance Centre, have both been completed since.
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What is the world's tallest abandoned building?
By Lydia Doye
Goldin Finance 117 in Northern China is the tallest abandoned building in the world.
At 1,957ft, the building is twice the height of the Shard.
If finished, the building would have been the fifth-tallest in the world.
It was planned to have a total of 128 floors with luxury housing, hotels, and commercial space.
It also had plans to be topped with a three-storey diamond-shaped atrium
The construction of Goldin Finance 117 began in 2008, as part of an ambitious £8billion project.
Construction was suspended in 2010 because of the recession, and stopped indefinitely in 2015.
The building was dubbed "The Walking Stick" because of its structural shape.