The tower was originally planned to be 626 metres (2,054 ft), but it was redesigned mid-construction due to airspace regulations so its height does not exceed 502 metres (1,650 ft) above ground level.

[4] The building was designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture in conjunction with Thornton Tomasetti Engineers won the design competition[5] to build the tower for Greenland Group, a real estate developer owned by the Shanghai city government.

Construction started in 2012 and had been put on-hold numerous times following the redesign in mid-2017 ranging from financial problems, to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Wuhan Greenland Center is Central China's tallest building with a cost of US$ 4.5 billion, mostly due to the number of times it had been put on-hold.

When the Wuhan Greenland Center reached its 96th floor, construction was halted due to airspace restrictions which led to its subsequent redesign to a 476 metres (1,562 ft)[7] building instead of a 636 metres (2,087 ft) building.