Emptiness in Beijing After Olympic Building Boom

The 2008 Summer Olympics brought a boom of construction to host city Beijing. But now, six months later, much of the office space built in the lead up to the games sits empty -- and likely will for years.

1 minute read

February 24, 2009, 12:00 PM PST

By Nate Berg

"Beijing went through a building boom before the 2008 Summer Olympics that filled a staid communist capital with angular architectural feats that grace the covers of glossy design magazines."

"Now, six months after the Games ended, the city continues to dazzle by night, with neon and floodlights dancing across the skyline. By day, though, it is obvious that many are "see-through" buildings, to use the term coined during the Texas real estate bust of the 1980s."

"By Rodman's calculations, 500 million square feet of commercial real estate has been developed in Beijing since 2006, more than all the office space in Manhattan. And that doesn't include huge projects developed by the government. He says 100 million square feet of office space is vacant -- a 14-year supply if it filled up at the same rate as in the best years, 2004 through '06, when about 7 million square feet a year was leased."

FULL STORY: Beijing's Olympic building boom becomes a bust

Sunday, February 22, 2009 in Los Angeles Times

Community / Economic Development Urban Development China Construction Beijing Vacancy Olympics Office Space View More

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