Vacant and/or Abandoned Skyscrapers
 

I am fascinated with grit, dead malls, and vacant skyscrapers. It occurred to me that the latter might be an interesting topic for a thread.


Here are a few to get things started:

1) Buffalo Central Terminal (Buffalo, NY)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...loCentral2.jpg
wikipedia

The New York Central Terminal in Buffalo, New York, USA, was a key railroad station from 1929 to 1979. The 17-story Art Deco style station was designed by architects Fellheimer & Wagner for the New York Central Railroad. After years of abandonment, it is in derelict condition, but is now owned by the non-profit preservation group, Central Terminal Restoration Corporation. (CREDIT: WIKIPEDIA)

2) São vito, sao paulo
http://thomaslockehobbs.com/2005/banespa7.jpg
thomaslockehobbs

3) Michigan Central Station, Detroit
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ralstation.jpg
wikipedia

The building, located in the Corktown district of Detroit near the recently demolished Tiger Stadium and the Ambassador Bridge about 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of downtown Detroit, still stands today, though it remains unoccupied (wikipedia).

4) Broderick Tower, Detroit
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...landWhales.jpg
Wikipedia

The Broderick Tower is a vacant skyscraper in Detroit, Michigan awaiting redevelopment. Construction began in 1926, and was completed in 1928. The tower was the second tallest building in Michigan when it was completed in 1928. It stands 35-stories tall, with two basement floors. The building is designed with Neo-classical architecture, Chicago school, and Beaux-Arts designs (Wikipedia).

5) Edificio Somallan, Havana, Cuba
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...Someillan2.jpg
glezgayol's photobucket

Happy to say the Broderick Tower in Detroit has just begun the initial stages of renovation. Financing was just closed on last month and there has been daily activity the last week or so.

Theres this art deco tower in downtown Houston thats been abandoned forever, I hope someone comes along and restores it. But, theres no plans at all right now. :(

http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/...rdboy1/j60.jpg
photo by me

Now that the Broderick has received the go ahead for it's conversion to residential (hell yeah!), I think the two most important vacant skyscrapers on the planet are these two dynamite gems in Detroit.

THEY. ABSOLUTELY. MUST. BE. SAVED.



Book Tower:
http://segaert.zenfolio.com/img/s3/v26/p535969426-5.jpg
source: flar from SSP




David Stott Building:
http://segaert.zenfolio.com/img/s8/v12/p644292783-5.jpg
source: flar from SSP

Wow, those buildings are absolutely incredible.

the tallest vacant building in chicago is the 463' randolph tower. however, it is supposed to be undergoing a conversion to residential at some point in the future. the developers have been dragging their feet on this one for years now. hopefully they'll come through.


Randolph Tower:
http://www.emporis.com/img/6/2006/06/468014.jpg
source: http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=image&id=468014

Ameritrust Tower - Cleveland, OH
Built: 1971, Marcel Breuer
383 ft
29 stories

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/...tower1030b.jpg

The demolition on this was suspended? Nice!

There's another Marcel Breuer building in New Haven that uses a similar cladding system. Ikea bought the site and introduced plans to implode it, but the city insisted it be preserved so now it's just sitting pretty as an abandoned tower in the middle of the Ikea parking lot.

http://urbanneighbourhood.com/wp-con...8/08/ikea4.jpg
urbanneighbourhood.com

I cant believe some of these buildings are abandoned, especially that one right in the heart of downtown Chicago, its a beauty. Luckily most of these are too tall to demolish.

the buildings i've posted (book tower, david stott, randolph tower) aren't abandoned, just currently vacant. that's a BIG difference. and, as i said before, randolph tower does have active plans for conversion to residential, the developers have just been dragging their feet on it for years.

All those abandoned are Gorgeous, I hope nobody wants to destroy them.
May be The Someillan - Havana is already in use, that picture was (I think)from very months ago when the tower was repaired...

How does one distinguish between abandoned and vacant? When its vacant are people still taking care of it I guess?

^Yeah, that is how I see it (maintained vs. unmaintained vacant buildings)

more less, yes. think of "abandoned" as michigan central station which is essentially a ruin at this point in time, vs. a "vacant" building like book tower which is maintained to a certain minimal level, but is just currently unused. "vacant" buildings can be brought back to life far, FAR more cheaply than an "abandoned" structure.

In many cases they aren't suitable for modern offices. These days companies like big open floors. That's why we see so many short and squat glass towers built. The best hope is residential conversion.

http://idacdonikad2.blox.pl/resource/Szkieletor2.jpg
This one was abandoned, and never completed. It's called the Szkieletor in Krakow, Poland. In the years there are people that try to reuse or complete the building, but because the land that it sits on is a border between two different owners the building is not being completed anytime soon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szkieletor

^ in that vein, chicago is also home to this notorious unfinished vacant hulk

the former waterview tower. it was to be a 90 story condo tower, but the developer ran out of money and could never secure a loan to finish the project.


http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/4363/waterview2.jpg
source: me

This is the one at the corner of Texas and Fannin, right? What did it even used to be?

And to add something to this thread, the two biggest abandoned buildings that I know of:
Michigan Central Station, Detroit:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...erior_2010.jpg
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Central_Station
and
Sathorn Unique, Bangkok:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RpEBpNI4jr...er+bangkok.jpg
source: http://www.6000times.com/2010/04/ban...craper_24.html

Just saying, but damn Detroit has so many empty buildings. It must be that people are leaving the city, and I read that Detroit has a high crime, and poverty rate.

I noticed that there were more than a few empty/abandoned buildings in Houston when I was there in November. . . the notable one being already posted here, but there are certainly more of them in the high-rise variety. . . but for some reason they all looked like old hotels from the 1960s. . . weird. . . maybe someone else here knows more about it. . .

. . .