I've noticed there's dozens of brand new single and multi family homes scattered all over parts of Chicago that have just been completed, but not occupied.  Many of them were built speculatively, but in failing neighborhoods.  Already, these homes have become magnets for vandalism.  Many windows have been smashed and it just snows and rains inside. 

 

How prevalent is this in other cities?  I've seen it in Detroit, and they've already begun demolishing some of the unoccupied homes that were never occupied in the first place

 

E Garfield Park:  Went by here recently and it's still there.

 

Southside Chicago.  Under Construction in this view:  Currently finished, but heavily vandalized and seriously damaged

http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&q=Calvary+Temple+Baptist&fb=1&gl=us&hq=Calvary+Temple+Baptist&hnear=Chicago,+IL&cid=0,0,5219825675469419418&ll=41.813597,-87.633471&spn=0.000801,0.001403&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=41.813596,-87.633472&panoid=B0Pp7JveqX61Fs_oHFPIKQ&cbp=12,301.2,,0,-7.52

Wow. Talk about an allegory for our national economic woes.

 

Speculate - Build - Abandon - Vandalize - Demolish - Repeat

In Orlando I've seen an abandoned and incomplete 15ish story office tower just down the street from an abandoned incomplete office park full of a dozen or so buildings.  It now looks like a military training center for Iraq/Afghan combat since it's all just concrete and sand.

There even are a few of these in more stable/gentrified parts of town.  Walk around Noble Square (to the east of Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village) and you used to see a ton of these. I see a fair amount of gaps on the google streetview, I wonder if a fair number of ones like the building I show below were already torn down. Here's an example street:

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Chicago,+IL&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=24.37547,57.480469&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Chicago,+Cook,+Illinois&ll=41.907196,-87.664375&spn=0,0.028067&z=15&layer=c&cbll=41.901582,-87.664507&panoid=xWGQJZdmjXK1c1ywKM-38Q&cbp=12,124.52,,0,-17.16

 

 

My favorite abandoned new condo building in Chicago would have to be this one - it looks like a fortress, might make a good army garrison or an excellent prop in a paintball arena:

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Chicago,+IL&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=24.37547,57.480469&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Chicago,+Cook,+Illinois&ll=41.908481,-87.667712&spn=0.002819,0.007017&z=17&layer=c&cbll=41.908359,-87.667696&panoid=XPDHEYOnviZ3KEduccPijQ&cbp=12,96.76,,0,-3.53

 

^ LOL!! Yes, that one on Ashland is my favorite.  I crack up whenever I go past it. 

 

 

How about this recession disaster:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Chicago,+IL&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=24.37547,57.480469&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Chicago,+Cook,+Illinois&layer=c&cbll=41.886545,-87.660787&panoid=ucb-8km-y48g8NVS115Lgw&cbp=11,42.61,,0,-12.77&ll=41.886548,-87.660792&spn=0.001498,0.007607&t=h&z=18

 

Which is contagious because this is down the street!

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=+1342+W+Randolph+St&sll=41.886616,-87.660642&sspn=0.003335,0.007607&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=1342+W+Randolph+St,+Chicago,+Cook,+Illinois+60607&ll=41.88431,-87.660733&spn=0.000749,0.003803&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=41.884309,-87.660733&panoid=g0ScA0mI8Yk6zhZ4feN1wA&cbp=11,46.19,,0,-12.33

This project finished the basement then stopped, then made it up to the 3rd or 4th floor later on, but never got the roof put on.  You can see it nearly complete in the updated google aerial view, but just above ground in streetview.  I've been by several times.  The wood is very weathered and some masonry is starting to go missing.  For all the overbuilding that happened on the southside, I was expecting way more empty buildings, but really you do have to search to find them.

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=+1342+W+Randolph+St&sll=41.886616,-87.660642&sspn=0.003335,0.007607&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=1342+W+Randolph+St,+Chicago,+Cook,+Illinois+60607&t=h&layer=c&cbll=41.813799,-87.596599&panoid=Js2m98eEyELQ2KURpkXZgw&cbp=11,75.21,,0,-9.41&ll=41.8138,-87.596599&spn=0.00075,0.003803&z=19

it would be an interesting masters thesis to do a collective study of these buildings, identify what their original target market was, what their original financing plan was, and see what started to unravel.  If the market went away first or the financing went away first.