Abandoned - Dubai Creek Tower

Dubai is a place of excess and world records. Ever since the government decided to shift their economy from oil to tourism, the many massive, successful megaprojects have largely put Dubai on the map, making it one of the most recognizable skylines in the world. But not too long ago, another megaproject was put forward to build the world's tallest human-built structure. It was the Dubai Creek Tower. However, once foundation work wrapped up, everything just stopped. So join me today as we find out how this much-hyped, record-breaking tower was left completely abandoned. It began in 2006, during a time of massive development growth for the city. Developer Sama Dubai, a subsidiary of Dubai Holdings, the same company which had been working on the later-canceled DubaiLand, had announced a massive and ambitious project. It was called The Lagoons, and would be located near the end of the Dubai Creek, not far from the international airport and right in the heart of the many developments already taking shape in the area. Atlanta-based architectural firm TVS Architects were chosen as the master planning firm, and they created a sprawling and vast concept of small islands and canals, all within over 1600 acres and taking up over 40 kilometers of waterfront land. Around 70 mid-rise residential towers would make up what essentially was a trend for the area. Many districts that would act as small cities within a city, complete with all the amenities you could ask for, with shopping malls, a planetarium, museums, an opera house, and theaters. The centerpiece of The Lagoons would be the Dubai Towers, a series of four architecturally striking curved skyscrapers, essentially acting as the icon of the development, and a key selling point for nearby residences. All in all, the project was valued at an insane figure of around 18 billion US dollars, and people were interested. In fact, after developers opened up public residential sales, phase one of the site sold out in a matter of months, as did phase two in 2007. By this point, the project was well underway, with significant land movement and infrastructure being constructed. Sand was dug out to create the new channels and canals, creating brand new islands ready for shovels to dig in for the new shiny towers. Developers claimed that the first buildings would open up by the first half of 2009, but of course, they never did. The 2008 financial crisis brought a sudden halt to many of the mega project concepts across Dubai, and The Lagoons was just that, a concept that never materialized outside of a model and a presentation center. Around 95% of the groundwork had been completed for The Lagoons, but as years passed, no work had been done. The site was left abandoned. That would be the case until 2013, when Dubai Holdings was looking to restart the project. They announced a new partnership with Amar Properties, a developer giant in Dubai known for building the Dubai Mall and the Burj Khalifa, one known for delivering on big projects. They would unveil an updated plan for The Lagoons, now unveiling a concept to ditch most of the canals and waterways for a more dense development. At its symbolic center would be an icon structure, now revealed to be the Dubai Twin Towers, the largest such towers in the world. So with a new plan relatively locked in, Dubai Holdings and their partner Amar Properties got to work. They began developing the residential district on the shores of Dubai Creek, right on the site originally slated for the Opera House. This became the first phase of construction for development, now known as Dubai Creek Harbor at The Lagoons. Though, this was despite The Lagoons' plan now being nothing more than just a name, as the original concept had been dramatically changed. Regardless, at least something was actually happening, and foundations for the new towers were being poured. But, once again, things came to a halt. Another three years would pass with little work done on the existing site. This was likely due to yet another change in plans. After various rumblings of a new mega-tall centerpiece icon for the development, on April 10th, 2016, it had finally been unveiled, with a media frenzy around it. The tower at Dubai Creek Harbor was poised to be the new centerpiece for this development, now entirely known as Dubai Creek Harbor. The tower was designed by famed architect Santiago Calatrava, the same architect of the notable Oculus Hub in New York City, as well as the cancelled and abandoned Chicago Spire, a project which I've talked about before on this channel. His distinct influence was very apparent here, with the tower's almost natural-looking, flowing design inspired by a lily. While it's not entirely known how many floors the tower would actually accommodate, it's widely accepted that the structure would only feature around 20 floors, all of which would be contained within an ovoid glass structure on the very top of a tall shaft. Here's where you'll find all of the various restaurants, a luxury hotel, and observation decks, complete with platforms that swivel out of the structure. On the penthouse floor, there would be a large garden with ceiling panels that would open up. All of these amenities would break records for being the highest in the world, and that's because the tower at Dubai Creek Harbor was set to break records of all kinds, as it was promised to be the tallest structure ever built by humans. While an official height figure was still a closely guarded secret, it's known that the building would be at least taller than the current record holder, which was also in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa. It was also set to exceed the proposed, and also once abandoned, Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia. Many speculate that the tower could reach over a thousand meters, or around 3,200 feet, possibly even up to 1,300 meters. This immense height is achieved by a series of long cables anchored into the ground below, adding stability for the super tall structure in the harsh Dubai weather. The tower was instantly met with a lot of enthusiasm, and put the Dubai Creek Harbor project back on the map for many, as this new icon would stage the various shopping plazas and entertainment offerings below. The whole project became the hottest new development within the city, and that's exactly what they wanted out of this tower. Since it had so little floor space, it was meant more to be a selling piece and a point of pride for Dubai, the same way something like the Eiffel Tower was for Paris. Though for this tower, it would be a costly one, as the total price to build it was somewhere around 1 billion US dollars. Now, this could have just been a fun concept, maybe taking shape somewhere down the road, but it soon became clear that the developers were serious about getting this tower going, and by October of 2016, an official groundbreaking was held. The building site was clearly mapped out on the greater development land, and already, excavation was underway with the immense foundation work needed. Developers had claimed that the ambitious project would actually rise out of the sand rather quickly, as the design wasn't as labor intensive as a super tall skyscraper, and that the tower would be finished by 2020, just in time for the Dubai World Expo. By this point, the structure was now known as the Dubai Creek Tower, and as models were being displayed all over Dubai, and as excitement grew, by early 2018, work had largely been completed on the colossal structure's foundation. Dubai's government and crown prince would often make trips out to check on the progress, updating the press on each milestone, really setting how iconic this project is for the country. However, while the Creek Harbor site as a whole was still active, particularly the residential developments closest to the water, the actual site for the tower had largely been left as it was. By early 2019, most of the infrastructure for those work crews had vacated, leaving just a bunch of empty staging areas and a big hole in the ground. Delays in awarding the primary contractors for the tower were likely the reason behind this, but by this point, it was already too late to make that 2020 opening. Between 2018 and 2020, almost no information was given about the state of construction. EMAR, the developers, didn't disclose any updates to the public, and by early 2020, it was being reported that the tower was on pause, thanks to fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. In reality, the tower was clearly delayed well before this event, so it is a bit of a cop-out. Though it is true that Dubai's Department of Finance pumped the brakes on all construction projects that hadn't yet taken shape. EMAR would ultimately revise their opening plans, now pushing it to 2022. However, as that date came and went, Dubai Creek Tower remained as just an abandoned foundation in the desert. Now, the rest of the project was still underway, with full residential developments taking shape within the island side. While these still were very large condo residences, it pales in comparison to the rest of Dubai Creek Harbor. In fact, these newly occupied residential buildings now overlooked the abandoned foundations of the tower. The developers' position remained as a vague, negotiations are in progress statement. But still, no tangible work had been made since 2018. Meanwhile, the company quietly began removing any mentions of the tower from the marketing of Dubai Creek Harbor, as well as their website. Finally, in August of 2023, EMAR Properties came out and stated that the project was on indefinite hold. No reason was given, but the company did state that the Creek Tower was currently being redesigned, and would now not strive to become the world's largest structure. It was now promised to stand slightly shorter than the Burj Khalifa. They claimed that a new design would be revealed in around 7-8 months, and that construction would resume at the site in 2024. That would never happen. Instead, various rumours would come and go surrounding the future of the tower. The lack of any updates, and failure to reveal an updated plan for the structure, only fueled speculation. EMAR, for their part, continued to stay tight-lipped about anything other than the waterfront developments that people were actually buying. They did talk a little bit more about the Dubai Square in 2024, the development's primary shopping mall, and they did mention that Elsewhere, the structure would show up in concept art from other developments, like this one from the government. No matter what, though, the tower's site, and really all of the core of Dubai Creek Harbour, would sit desolate and unchanged. Despite claims that construction had resumed in early 2024, nothing had been changed on the site. And really, that brings us to today. The property now looks basically the same as it did in 2018. Various outlines of future development parcels remain vacant, while some structures, like this one south of the proposed mall site, remain abandoned, in a state of frozen construction. The same could be said about the Creek Tower itself. For as monumental and ambitious this structure was promised to be, its actual imprint on the earth today is rather unremarkable. Little documentation has been made of the actual foundation as it stands today, but then again, there really isn't much to see. The massive hole in the ground is essentially exactly the same as 2018, likely slowly deteriorating, surely not aided by the flooding in early 2024. It all sits completely abandoned. In the end, this mega project has seen so many forms and concepts put forward. Looking at the land in 2010 compared to it is now is such a stark contrast. The Lagoon's project was doomed from the start, solely due to its timing. Building a mega project consisting mainly of residential housing proved to be too tumultuous for the times. By the time it was rebranded into Creek Harbor, it kept the residential element, in fact made it more dense, but to help drive sales, they decided to go for vanity and excess. Dubai Creek Tower really served no functional purpose, aside from having the bragging rights over the Jeddah Tower, which was announced to be the new tallest tower in the world, thus removing the title from Dubai, and just being another driver for tourism. However, once the Jeddah Tower's construction stalled and became abandoned, and when the developers found that the tower really didn't affect sales of the nearby condos enough to justify the cost, they likely de-emphasized its importance. As the parts of the development that were actually making money were prioritized, it seems like everyone kind of just forgot about the vanity project that was poised to change Dubai's skyline. At the time of the press launch for the tower, they also emphasized its importance of having it finished before the expo. But of course, the fair has come and gone, and the tower never made it up. Now of course, these are all just assumptions, as corporate details behind what happened here are actually pretty scarce. But that's not to say what they were actually building here wasn't interesting, though. I honestly do like it. I think it's incredibly cool when we build structures like this. However, despite being a cool idea and surely an impressive feat of engineering and architecture, mainly thanks to designer Santiago Calatrava, if anything, it's now better known for what it failed to amount to. It has now become a weird trend for the famed architect, as just like the failed Chicago Spire development he worked on, this too is another large abandoned hole in the ground. Perhaps one of the most expensive holes ever dug by a developer. But for now, time will only tell if anything remotely like he originally designed will ever rise out of it in the future. If you enjoyed this video and want to see more like it, don't forget to subscribe to this channel, Bright Sun Films. And if you're also into high quality travel related videos, I also have a second channel called Bright Sun Travels. A link is in the description below. Anyway guys, my name is Jake, and thank you very much for watching.