A half-finished skyscraper is gathering dust in downtown Auckland. In New Zealand’s proud tradition of Changing Rooms and The Block, we have some creative suggestions for what to do with it.

Unfinished business looms over Auckland city’s skyline. It’s the Seascape Tower, an ambitious 54-storey skyscraper on Customs Street, which ground to a halt mid build, in 2024, when the developer Shundi Customs and building contractor China Construction NZ became embroiled in a complicated legal dispute. Work ceased. The half-complete building began to be called a “ghost tower”. Everyone wondered what was going on. Eventually there appeared to be progress; a settlement was reached and the building project was handed over from China Construction NZ to Australian company Icon Construction in April 2025, but by March 2026 Shundi was placed into receivership, found to be owing creditors $600 million for a $300 million build – lofty sums for what was supposed to be New Zealand’s tallest residential building. 

The (quite literal) rise and (economic) fall of the project has been well documented. And the high-profile location makes it a visible reminder of the risks of property development and the money required to do it. Inaction has dragged out so long that paint has started flaking off the structure and neighbours are complaining about falling debris. Construction began way back in 2017. Now, nearly a decade on, with Seascape up for sale and receivers hopeful of finding a buyer, what could the future hold for the troubled tower? The Spinoff has some ideas.

The drop-off point for the North Shore gondola. The second harbour crossing no one talks about could end here.

Laser strike. Imagine the possibilities.

Another Chemist Warehouse. Seascape is located in the heart of the CBD, an area that currently has only two of Auckland’s grand total of 38 (three more than The Spinoff’s last count in December). If Alex Casey’s projections are correct, the chain’s current rapid growth trajectory suggests New Zealand will have 4,624 stores by 2033. Seascape could be among them. Just imagine that piercing tower rendered in that aggressively optimistic shade of yellow. The Australian company has already taken over landmark locations like Smith & Caughey’s Newmarket and Geoff’s Emporium on Dominion Road. Could the ghost tower join them?

A new parliament. Rather than scuttling to work in The Beehive, MPs and staffers could crawl to the building formerly known as Seascape, now dubbed The Termite Mound instead, having relocated from Wellington to New Zealand’s former capital, escaping memories of sewage and roadworks.

Some more Wilson carparking. After all, that’s what’s happening to another notoriously abandoned development. Food Alley and the Yates building were demolished to make way for a 159-metre tower that never materialised. Instead, the razed block, which has sat empty for years, will be transformed into 67 carparks. If Seascape followed suit, it could become Auckland’s tallest parking building. Its location on prime real estate is something shared by other parking buildings in the city, including the one on the corner of Victoria Street East and Kitchener Street, and the Elliot Street carpark. And lobbyists want more.

Rainbow’s End Metro. New Zealand has an opportunity to one-up our rivals across the Tasman. With the Seascape tower designed to be 187 metres tall, transforming it into an integrated amusement park would eclipse the Southern Hemisphere’s current tallest ride, the 39-storey “The Giant Drop” at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast.. Rai and Bow could have smoko with the employees of Showgirls, another iconic entertainment venue.

A giant rode cone. It’s more or less the right shape. And the road cone is the unofficial symbol of Auckland.

New home for the Waiwera Hot Pools’ hydroslides. We’re still mourning the demise of the popular water park, which entertained 350,000 people a year in its heyday. The altitude of the Seascape tower could provide not just a new home for The Black Hole, Twister and Speedslide, but an adrenaline-surging increase in elevation that would be definitely 100% safe and family friendly. “Waiwera Hot Pools had a slide called Bob’s Mistake, named after a design error which saw its tube terminating a metre or two above the pool below,” notes hydroslide aficionado Hayden Donnell. “The Seascape Tower offers a unique opportunity to expand that much-missed mistake to 150 metres or more.” Although where those famous Waiwera slides are now remains to be seen. The park was abandoned by its billionaire owner – not unlike Seascape – with new owners planning a wellness complex (think reflexology rather than hydroslides). 

A second Warriors Bar. If that long-debated waterfront stadium ever does materialise, the tower would be in prime position to put the “up” in “up the Wahs”, expanding Full Time’s footprint. “They could even name the elevator the Warriors,” suggests Ātea Editor Liam Rātana. “So when you leave it can let you down too.”

Auckland’s Eiffel Tower. The Parisian landmark is “basically scaffolding”, notes deputy editor Alice Neville – much like Seascape.

A vertical garden. Very solarpunk.

Another Yogi’s Haircut. These have been popping up around Auckland with surprising pace. One more can’t hurt.

Offices with a view for Wellington city councillors. Their new office in the capital reportedly boasts views of a “neighbouring wall” and a carpark. Mayor Andrew Little isn’t stoked about it. Surely there’s something more scenic available in the 56-storey Seascape tower? “Little has worried that visiting dignitaries won’t get a view of Wellington’s harbour,” says Donnell. “This solution doesn’t just fix his lack of a view; it gives the visitors a more impressive harbour to look at. Everybody wins.”

Viv Beck’s bolt-hole. Great views of the central city and its much maligned streets.

Auckland’s version of the Pompidou Centre. Its inner workings are laid bare like an autopsy of engineering might, presenting a disruptive vision to the city, one that stirs chatter and debate. It’s a description of the famous Parisian building and one that could also be applied to Tāmaki Makaurau’s unfinished tower.

Permanent tomb for Auckland’s giant Santa Claus. “Auckland’s greatest mistakes, ranked: three, bulldozing an entire suburb to make way for a motorway; two, not building Robbie’s rapid rail; and one, giving up our giant Santa,” argues Donnell. “The Seascape Tower’s frightening hollow corpse is winking and beckoning us to right the wrongs of the past.” Aucklanders are divided as to whether he (the Santa) was “creepy” or just misunderstood. Regardless, he’s retired now. The National Transport and Toy Museum paid a dollar for the statue. Much like the ghosts of Christmas past, the ghostly tower could be transformed into a mausoleum for the Queen Street icon. A big glass sarcophagus would preserve him in perpetuity, like Russia did with their icon of material distribution, Vladimir Lenin.

Wayne Brown’s office. A mayor should have a panoptical vantage of his purview. “Why settle for the 27th floor when you could be on the 56th? That’s more than twice as high,” points out Rātana. “Which I’m sure Mayor Brown would love.” Brown could marvel at the City Rail Link, take in the glittering waters of the Waitematā, and see all the way across to the deservedly upset residents of Devonport, where he thinks there needs to be more density and more people.

A daring new canvas for Pork, Fysio and Jandal. If they haven’t been there already.

It could be a Playground of National Significance. Joel MacManus explains: “First proposed by Joey Shannon, the Playgrounds of National Significance is a proposal for a network of destination playgrounds, libraries and other community services funded through a portion of GST on new housing construction. This playground might be a little larger than Shannon envisioned, but what’s the harm in ambition?”

Alex Honnold’s next challenge. The fearless free-climber made short work of Taipei 101 earlier this year, but could he come and “knock the bastard off” in Sir Edmund Hillary’s hometown? Priceless tourism promo if they livestream it on Netflix again too.

A remake of The Tribe. It’s been 27 years (yes, really) since Lex, Zandra, Trudy, Amber and the gang traversed their apocalyptic wasteland, played adeptly by Wellington. The TV show’s vision of an economically compromised, sectarian society existing in a post-virus world is probably worth revisiting. We could do so in Auckland. There are decaying buildings, plenty of shopping malls and an empty half-built skyscraper that would make an epic teenage lair.

A helipad for Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams. They’ve been granted approval for one already. This would have killer views. (It might be as tall as Ali Williams himself, posits Rātana.)

Auckland’s version of the Basílica de la Sagrada Família. The Gaudí-designed Barcelona church has taken 144 years to build, points out Spinoff editor Veronica Schmidt. It’s still not quite finished. Neither is Seascape.

Do you have a suggestion? Tell us in the comments.