CityCenter. Burj Khalifa. Rose Rayhaan by Rotana.

Call them our monuments to sins of the past. All three massive development projects—Burj Khalifa the tallest structure ever built, and Rose Rayhaan the tallest hotel—were conceived during better economic times when capital flowed much more freely than it does today.

But they were opened in a world that is much different. The global meltdown has made the free flow of capital, which was these projects’ lifeblood, virtually nonexistent. How ironic that US$4.9 billion CityCenter in Las Vegas and Dubai’s US$1.5 billion Burj Khalifa and the US$180-million Rose Rayhaan are all opening at a time when there is little money available for projects?

The promoters of these projects have gone out of their way to tell us of the developments’ greatness.

Jim Murren, chairman and CEO of MGM Mirage, said at CityCenter’s opening: “I’ve always believed that Las Vegas is a great city, but doesn’t every great city need that place? That place is CityCenter.”

Emaar Properties PJSC sent out a “by the numbers” release touting the scale of Burj Khalifa (in case you were curious, 31,400 metric tons of rebar were used in the development.)

Rose Rayhaan’s director of engineering, Ayad Hamadi, said at its opening “We were looking to create something different in Dubai,” according to the Gulf News. The hotel was developed by Rotana Hotels & Resorts.

Myself, I believe these projects should be celebrated in a different way. I believe they should be massive monuments to the mistakes shared by lenders, developers and investors.

Regardless of how good the economic times, there are consequences to every action, as Dubai’s US$60-billion debt load shows. Let these three towering monuments remind us of our sins, so that they are never repeated.

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