The Biggest Megaprojects That Were Never Finished

The world around us is full of amazing buildings that make you marvel at the genius in their construction. Then, there’s the buildings where architects really gave it their best go. So, we’ve rounded up some of the biggest, most expensive, and downright most outrageous almost-buildings that never quite made it over the finish line. Let’s investigate the biggest megaprojects that have never been finished.

Doha Sharq Crossing

When Qatar was selected to host the 2022 football world cup, there were big questions regarding whether the country’s infrastructure could support a premier sporting tournament. So, Qatar embarked on an outrageous construction campaign. And one of those projects was the Doha Sharq Crossing.

Doha sharq crossing by wgoqatar

This was an insanely ambitious three bridge system linked by two underwater tunnels and a marine tunnel spanning a whopping 7.5 miles across Doha bay. This big boy should’ve handled an incredible 6,000 vehicles an hour and significantly reduced traffic in the surrounding areas. Big builds like this don’t come cheap, and the Qatari government set aside a whopping $12 billion just for this one project.

Construction was scheduled to begin in 2015 and everyone hoped it would be open for the World Cup. But 2022 came and went already, and there is still no bridge. Despite Qatar consistently denying there was a problem, low oil prices in the years prior to 2022 had put a major strain on their economy. More than 15% of their annual income is oil, and without that money, some of these massive projects had to be put on hold.

However, just because the bridge isn’t there now doesn’t mean it won’t ever be there. The Qatari government announced in the 2020 budget that they were relaunching the project and expecting to complete it by 2025. Whether that’s true or not remains to be seen.

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

No article about unfinished buildings would be ironically complete without arguably the most famous unfinished building in the world. Want to guess where it is? If you thought about the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, you can have a congratulatory siesta after reading this article!

Despite construction starting way back in 1882, the imposing Neo-Gothic Catholic church is, as of writing this article, still being built. The project was started over 140 years ago by Francisco de Paula del Villar, but he resigned just a year later.

Then it was taken over by renowned architect, Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi poured every waking second into the project, but in 1926 he came second in a one-on-one fight with a tram and was buried in the Sagrada Familia’s crypt. At the time less than a quarter of the grand structure had been finished.

The years following Gaudi’s passing were somewhat stop-start. The project was reliant entirely on private donations, so the money to make any meaningful progress was hard to come by. Then Spain was devastated by the outbreak of civil war in 1936. In June of that year anarchists set fire to the crypt and destroyed the workshop as well as the original plans.

Luckily the plans were re-developed from what scraps survived, and work started again in 1939, when the war ended. Progress remained slow though until recent years, where advancements in computer technologies, like 3D printing, have rapidly accelerated procedures. That finally brings us up to today where the Sagrada Familia is finally still not done. But it is nearly there. Current estimates expect it to be completed sometime after 2026, a whopping 100 years after Gaudi’s death.

In terms of money, it’s impossible to accurately know how much construction and maintenance has cost over the years. But current values put it at around 25 million Euros a year, that’s just over $27 million. If, and it’s a very big if, those costs were consistent for the 141 years since work started, we’re talking a little short of a staggering $4 billion! To be clear, this is by no means accurate, but it’s the best you can reach with the information available.

Mingun Pahtodawgyi Temple

Just like Gaudi, many ambitious architects never get to see the finished fruits of their labor. One of those was King Bodawpaya, 6th King of Myanmar’s Konbaung Dynasty, which ruled the country from 1752 to 1885. But Bodawpaya’s architectural dreams didn’t go wrong for quite the same reasons as Gaudi’s. He’d been gifted a sacred Buddhist tooth relic from a visiting Chinese delegation. So, to enshrine such a precious artefact, Bodawpaya set about building the largest pagoda in the country, and possibly even the world.

Known as the Mingun Pahtodawgyi, work began on the grand temple in 1790, 6-miles northwest of the city of Mandalay. It quickly became the most important thing in King Bod’s life. So important that he left running the state to his son and built a new house for himself near the construction site so he could oversee the project.

After seven years, the majestic temple was an almighty 164-feet tall. But construction had taken a huge toll on the population and rumors of a strange prophecy began to spread among the workers. Supposedly, the temple was cursed and upon its completion the Kingdom would cease to exist. And no Kingdom means no King. This got the better of King Bod’s superstitious nature and any further work on the temple was stopped.

At just a third of its desired height, the Mingun Pahtodawgyi is still an impressive structure, but compared to what it could’ve been, we’ll probably never know. As for the curse, maybe it was true, maybe it was a lie created by an overstretched workforce. It’s forever a mystery we won’t get an answer to.

Wonderland Amusement Park

There’s no rush in life like going to an amusement park. The thrill of the rides, the smell of freshly grilled hotdogs. But the Wonderland Amusement Park on the outskirts of Beijing was a real rollercoaster for all the wrong reasons.

The 120-acre theme park in Chenzhuang Village had hoped to draw in crowds of 20 million people. So, you’d think a place with high aspirations would look the part, right? Take a look for yourself in the image below.

Construction started in the mid-1990s but was suddenly halted in 1998 and the site left abandoned. Rumors spread thick and fast as to why work dried up, from the discovery of mass graves to even suspected hauntings. Who’d want to ride Splash Mountain next to a ghost? But the real reason is honestly a lot more boring, they simply ran out of money. If you’re thinking this looks like a bootlegged Disney World, you’d be right!

The developers pretty much copied the designs figuring Disney wouldn’t be able to protest against usage of their copyright in China. How wrong they were. There aren't any concrete legal cases, but considering Disney signed contracts for their own theme park in Hong Kong in 1999, you’d imagine they had something to say. Maybe that’s what caused the money to dry up?

After construction plans collapsed, farmers who’d been kicked off their land came back and carried on like nothing had changed. Well, nothing except there was now a big unfinished castle nestled amongst their carrots. That is until 2013, when the final remaining structures were pulled down.

In terms of how much money was sunk into this waste of concrete, it’s hard to say. But the initial costs for Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, which is slightly smaller at 107 acres, are rumored to be an astounding $331 million. Just like the Sagrada Familia, there’s a lot of variables at play, but as a ballpark it shows what a money hole this development could’ve been.

South China Mall

Plans for the colossal 7.1 million square foot megamall in Dongguan started in 2002, and included a roller coaster, Egyptian sphynx, and even a 1.3-mile gondola ride through the mall. Despite opening in 2005 with room for 2,350 stores, this place is a ghost mall. Despite splashing a stonking 2.5 billion Yuan, or $402 million dollars on the development, authorities struggled to seal lease agreements with vendors.

China's ghost mall by CNN

Secondly, South China Mall was built on old, abandoned farmland. So, the road infrastructure around it isn’t sufficient to supply the traffic a mall this size requires. There’re no trains and no direct busses. The inefficient bus service that does operate from Dongguan takes a whole two and a half hours to travel a measly six miles. Basically, you need your own transport, something many people in the area don’t have.

However, not all hope is lost! By 2012, a monstrous 47 lots were filled. By 2015, this number had gone up again, but large parts of the mall remained vacant. And by 2018, despite gradual improvements, four whole stories were still empty. The gondola river was green and stagnant and the only signs of life were the people hired to stop pedestrians from walking into the abandoned areas.

Yujiapu Financial District: China's Manhattan

Some say money makes the world go round, but in other cases, it doesn’t move things along quite fast enough. The latter is definitely true for Yujiapu Financial District. Yes, to the surprise of absolutely no one, we’re still on a China groove. But they’re just so good at being bad at building stuff, and Yujiapu is no exception.

Yujiapu Financial District (Ghost City) - Tianjin by Koda Capital

The area in Tianjin was set up to be the city’s center for finance and world trade, and a new world money capital doesn’t come cheap. Yujiapu received a staggering $30 billion of investments and was expected to open in June 2014. But surprise, surprise, it didn’t work out. It’s not-so-cleverly built on land just a few inches above sea level and is very prone to floods. So, after heavy rainfall people literally had to take off their shoes and roll their pants up just to cross the street.

Also, the company in charge of building struggled managing their budget. Somehow, they blew through a mind-boggling $50 billion budget and ended up in crippling debt. Shockingly though, this one might not be all doom and gloom. Work on Yujiapu had been slow since 2016, but by 2019, some government agencies of Tianjin had actually set up new headquarters there.

Centro Financiero Confinanzas

As it goes, the irony of failed financial centers isn’t just a China issue. Over in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, the Centro Financiero Confinanzas aimed for the moon and missed spectacularly. In 1990, work started on a flashy new financial building for Venezuelan stockbrokers and bankers. And at 561 feet tall, it’s currently the third tallest building in Venezuela.

However, in 1994, the Venezuelan government took control of the banks and absolutely tanked the economy. Work on the tower stopped when the money dried up. So, the government took control over that too, and for years it sat as this unfinished blight overlooking the impoverished city.

Then, in the 2000s, Caracas suffered another massive blow, this time due to a severe lack of housing. This led to swathes of squatters overtaking the abandoned offices in 2007 and kitting them out with basic utilities. In the years that followed, the squat filled with ramshackle barbershops, bodegas, beauty salons, and even a backstreet dentist. By 2011, over 700 families were taking refuge in the tower. The financial center had become the world’s tallest slum.

Outside sources slammed the slum as a hotbed for crime and illicit goods, but those inside called it a kind of communal utopia. Sadly for them, the dream was short lived. By 2014, the government evacuated hundreds of families and relocated them into new homes just south of Caracas.

By June the following year, everyone had been removed and the Centro Financiero Confinanzas lay empty once again. There were rumors that Chinese banks were interested in renovating it for its original use, however they never materialized. While Venezuela is still plodding its way through economic woes, it’s hard to see that changing.

Hunter's Point

Hunter’s Point in San Francisco was projected to be a swanky new neighborhood replacing the old naval shipyard, with development costs estimated at around $8 billion. That included stores, restaurants, bars, public spaces, and beautiful affordable homes for all the tech bros and broettes.

By “affordable”, it’s still a million dollars for a two-bed condo, it’s San Francisco after all! Compared to the average cost in the area of $1.4 million, these are affordable. Or at least, they would’ve been had everything gone to plan. However, everything has not gone to plan.

Between 1945 and 1969, the shipyard was the largest nuclear test facility in the US. Because of this, the area is a still a hotbed for extremely hazardous radioactive substances. Before any building work started, clean-up company Tetra Tech were tasked with removing the nasty chemicals. But they’ve been accused of faking up to 97% of the data submitted as proof the area was safe.

This is no joke. People have lost partners, children have been endangered, and some have even contracted diseases doctors can’t diagnose. In the face of all this, Tetra Tech is looking at a jaw-dropping $27 billion lawsuit for damages. Holy smokes! In the meantime, any further work to Hunter’s Point has been banned until the concerns over its safety can be nullified. How long that might take, who knows?

Thames Garden Bridge

Planning permission was granted in 2014 for a new snazzy pedestrian crossing over the River Thames between the pre-existing Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge. The bridge concepts show a beautiful, nature-oriented design full of lush greenery.

However, by 2016, the Mayor of London ordered a review of the project to see if it was still proving good value for money. Suddenly, the company in charge of orchestrating construction, the Garden Bridge Trust, showed a short fall of $71 million in their company accounts.

Even before a single brick had been laid, dicey dealers dished out $27 million in construction contracts, $12 million on designers, nearly $3 million on legal costs, and over $2 million paying themselves for doing such a wonderful job. Gross! And that’s not counting the $530,000 they spent on a “fundraising gala”, which is posh-talk for “rich douchebag party”.

But the real injustice here is that $56 million of all that was money taken from British taxpayers. Even though the project was abandoned without any meaningful work happening, some people made a lot of money for doing nothing. Hopefully karma gets back to them.

Ryugyong Hotel

Despite costing an estimated $750 million, North Korea’s Ryugyong Hotel has never had a single guest. The 1,080-feet tall, 105-storey giant pyramid situated in the North Korean capital has never even opened. While the first bricks were laid way back in 1987 and it reached its full height just five years later in 1992, very little progress has been made ever since.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, North Korea’s economy tanked hard. Without the support of one of their closest allies, they no longer had the money to finance such a wildly costly and ambitious development. But that’s not to say they haven’t tried.

A grand opening was planned in 2012 to coincide with the centenary of founding father, Kim Il-Sung’s Birthday. Only, it never happened. Neither did the soft launch planned a year later. The Ryugyong hotel became such an embarrassment for North Korea, they even tried manipulating photographs of the skyline to deny it existed. The problem is it is the skyline.

Fast forward to 2018 and large LED display screens were fitted to one side which show short animations and clips from movies. Yowch. The grandest construction project in the country’s history has become little more than a colossal propaganda notice board. Talk about living up to the stereotypes!

RYUGYONG HOTEL Pyongyang Light Show (2020) by Zoe Discovers

Burj Al Babas

Burj Al Babas was meant to be a magical residential complex of 732 near identical miniature chateaus near Mudurnu, Turkey. If you’re not worried about making your friends feel cripplingly insecure, these deluxe pads were expected to retail between $370,000 and $530,000 a pop. Not bad! Especially when you consider each had underfloor heating, Jacuzzis, and all sorts of other luxury facilities.

But shortly after construction began in 2014, Turkey’s economy became highly unstable. By 2019, the developers filed for bankruptcy with debts of $25 million. In total, only 587 of the 732 homes were built, none of which were ever finished. And that alone cost an insane $200 million. This fairytale kingdom sits abandoned without a single resident. But nothing’s stopping somebody else from finishing it off.

Sathorn Unique Tower

While there are thousands of reasons why a building might be unfinished, Sathorn Unique Tower in Bangkok, Thailand, might be the most bonkers reason yet. The 47-storey luxury high-rise condominium project started in the 1990s and suffered a knockback in 1997 due to the Asian financial crisis. But that’s not the weird thing. The building’s designer, renowned architect Rangsan Torsuwan, was arrested in 1993 for plotting a high-profile kicking of the bucket.

It was alleged Torsuwan had beef with the President of the Supreme Court, Praman Chansue, so tried to end the dispute in the most final way possible. Rangsan was sent to prison in 2008 but was acquitted just two years later in 2010. Even though he was found not guilty, Rangsan struggled to secure any more funding for his project. Instead, this 1.8 billion Thai baht, or $52 million development sits there completely desolate.

However, urbex enthusiasts often venture into the ghostly tower to have a snoop around, and they’ve reported some very unusual sightings. Rumor has it, there’re some otherworldly activities going on around the 43rd floor. Since 2014, travelers claim to have seen the ghostly apparition of a lost backpacker roaming the halls.

Sure enough, police reports around that time state a body was mysteriously found in one of the rooms. Maybe they were a rogue explorer who slipped through an unfinished floor or perhaps it was something much more sinister.

Forgotten Luxury - A Look Inside Sathorn Unique Tower by Owl Exterminator

Xanadu Houses

Back in the 1980s, a series of experimental homes popped up in the US showcasing the possibilities of future living. Across the three homes in Florida, Wisconsin, and Tennessee, Xanadu Houses presented an idealized future of home design. Instead of concrete, each Xanadu house was built by inflating a large balloon and spraying it with special Polyurethane insulation foam. Not only was this much cheaper than concrete, but it was quicker too!

And it gave Xanadu this weird futuristic appearance. But just like a Little Caesar’s take-out box, the magic is inside. Xanadu had everything your dream house could; a spa, party room with video projectors, and a state-of-the-art kitchen with an electronic chef which automatically planned ahead nutritious, well-balanced meals. Every single room was fully automated and controlled by microcomputers.

The interior marvels turned out to quickly go old and stale. See, all the computer equipment that formed the basis of Xanadu’s futuristic claims, was actually old tech from the 1950s. Just ten years after the first house was built, it had become irrelevant. By 2005 the last house had been demolished. And that’s kind of why Xanadu’s futuristic ideals never materialized. It was pretty much dead before it hit the ground running.

Boldt Castle

For many of us, home is a place we share with our loved ones. Somewhere to create cherished memories. Luckily, that’s because most of us are more fortunate than American businessman, George Boldt. He’d made his millions in the hotel industry throughout the 19th century. But when it came to his own home George wanted to pull out all the stops.

He purchased the aptly named Heart Island on the Saint Lawrence River, New York, as a surprise for his beloved wife, Louise. Here he set about constructing one of the largest houses in America at the time, costing a cool $2.5 million. And remember, that’s $2.5 million over 100 years ago. Adjusting for inflation, that’s nearer $100 million in today’s money. And the castle was really beautiful.

Construction began in 1900, but it tragically stopped in 1904 when Louise suddenly died. Devastated and heartbroken, George couldn’t bear returning to the island as a lonely widower. So, the remains of his audacious mansion were left to rot. For 73 years, no welcome guests stepped foot inside Boldt castle, and as time went on it was beat down by tough weather and vandals.

However, in 1977 the project was overtaken by a trust who purchased this elaborate home for just one dollar! They’ve been fixing it up, and as of 2020, they’ve spent an eye-watering $50 million on renovations alone. Sadly, all the money in the world could never finish this house the way it was meant to be.

Pyramid of Neferefre

Egypt has given us some of the world’s most incredible architectural marvels. The Sphinx, the Pyramids of Giza but only real ones know of a building that even the pharaohs tried to sweep under the rug: the Pyramid of Neferefre.

This is the final resting place in Abusir of Neferefre Isi, an ancient Egyptian Pharoah who ruled way back in the 25th century BC during the Fifth Dynasty. Aside from his pyramid, hardly anything is known about Neferefre, and even the pyramid doesn’t give us much.

Despite the foundations being 256-feet wide and 213-feet long, it only measures a measly 23-feet tall. According to an inscription from the time, work stopped during Neferefre’s second year in charge. Well, it’s generally agreed that he must’ve died just two or three years after taking the throne, bringing work to a premature halt. Nonetheless, he was buried in his unfinished pyramid, which was hastily turned into a mastaba, a kind of large flat-top tomb, by his successor.

Many years later, small fragments of his mummy were uncovered there which suggested Neferefre was only in his early twenties when he died. Imagine being remembered for thousands of years as the Pharaoh with the tiny pyramid. That’s embarrassing!

If you were amazed at these megaprojects never finished, you might want to read our article about megaprojects that were never built. Thanks for reading!