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AQ Slideshow: A Venezuelan Skyscraper's Unlikely Tenants

By Ramón Campos Iriarte

For five years, 700 families have made what was supposed to be Venezuela's biggest financial center their home.

The Caracas highrise known as “Torre de David” was supposed to be the biggest financial center in Venezuela. Officially named Torre Cofinanzas—but better known as “David’s Tower,” in honor of its developer, David Brillemburg—60 percent of the building was left unfinished after the company that owned the project went bankrupt in 1994.

For the next 15 years, with no private bidders showing interest, the two 45-story towers and 10-story parking complex were left abandoned, quickly becoming a site for looters and vandals.

But in 2008, 200 families affected by...

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