World’s Most Expensive Abandoned Structures

[ombugge]

World’s Most Expensive Abandoned Structures | Investing Magazine

[Tupsis]

Either that page was generated with AI or whoever authored it just browsed the internet and picked places at random.

[Earl_Boebert1]

The technical term is “chum box” Full of clickbait. ChatGPT will generate one for you in milliseconds, and Google will pay for the clicks. Welcome to the new normal.

Cheers,

Earl

[ombugge]

Yes I agree.
I reacted especially to this one:

7. Istana Woodneuk

Location: Singapore
Year: 1932
Cost: $3.7 billion*
I happens to know a bit about this old abandoned villa and a value of $3.7 Bn. must be in old Zimbabwe $.

In fact the land area around the Istana Woodneuk, which still belongs to the Sultan of Johor, is what has a high value, not the ruined building:

Unoccupied since the 1950s, the palace was maintained by a caretaker hired by the Johor State Council before being abandoned in 1986 after his demise.
On two separate acquisitions in 1990 and 2009, the Government of Singapore purchased plots of the Tyersall Park estate as part of Botanic Gardens’ expansion plans. Istana Woodneuk however, was not part of the purchase and remained a property of the Johor Royalty. The remaining land—estimated to be one-fifth the size of Singapore Botanic Gardens—was valued in 2007 at S$4.7 billion.

Source: https://explorersg.com/the-history-behind-istana-woodneuk/

PS> The land may now finally be developed:

Johor royal family land in Singapore could be possibly redeveloped for luxury...

According to Alan Cheong, executive director of research at Savills in Singapore, it may cost as much as US$4.5 billion to develop, based on current estimates of the land size and planning parameters – inclusive of development charges.
Cheong added that the land’s net value is at least $600 million, not including the charges the landowner has to pay to the government.

[Tupsis]

I used to be active in the Urban Exploration community when I was younger and actually recognized quite a few of the locations on that list. Many are long gone.

I’m somewhat surprised that this location didn’t make it to the list: