High-rise building Cathedral Plaza in Bucharest, developed by Millennium Building Development, is ready to welcome tenants and can be visited from Monday next week, the company has announced. Millenium closed down the construction site, as requested by the State Inspectorate for Constructions. The delivery of the building, which required an investment of EUR 60 million, has been stalled by back and forth lawsuits, after Bishop Ioan Robu claimed the building was imposing risks to the foundation of the adjacent St. Joseph Cathedral.

Works on the building had been stopped, after the court of law in Suceava, Romania decided that the developer’s permits were not legal. The construction permits for the building had been issued by the sector 1 City Hall in 2006, and not by the Bucharest General City Hall. According to the developer, Millenium Building Development, the court said the permits should have followed rulings which were enforced after 2007, when Romania joined the European Union.

“I didn’t know I needed an authorization from Vatican to build an office building in Bucharest. I have the letter from Mr. Robu, who was congratulating us for the project. He then sent another letter asking for the retail spaces at the ground floor of the building, the first floor and ten parking places. Our response was that we can only rent those, which upset him and made him say the building will never be built,” said Eyal Ofer, co-chairman of Miller Global, the owner of the building.

Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Cathedral Plaza)