Mayor of the Romanian capital Nicuşor Dan on Wednesday announced he had signed the demolition order for Cathedral Plaza, a high-rise office building built illegally next to the Roman Catholic Cathedral.
Litigation
The move comes 12 years after the building was completed and at the end of years of litigation.
„Since January 2013, the City Hall was obliged, by a final court decision, to demolish the building.
However, this obligation was ignored by the former mayors Sorin Oprescu and Gabriela Firea,” the mayor added.
Completed in 2010, the 24,000 sqm Cathedral Plaza ran into trouble with the Archdiocese of Bucharest, who opposed the construction, despite an initial agreement.
Developed by Millennium Building Development, a company controlled by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer, the building was finalised in 2010, and its war with the Catholics went to the courts.
Roman Catholic
The Romanian Catholic Archdiocese opened an 60 million euro lawsuit in 2006 by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese claiming the neighboring building was dangerous for St. Joseph’s Cathedral – a historic monument.
The case was moved to eight other Romanian cities, the Constitutional Court of Romania, and the European Court of Human Rights several times.
In 2013, the building was acquired by real estate investor Ioannis Papalekas just a month after the court ordered the mayor of Bucharest to order the demolition of the Cathedral Plaza.
Bucharest mayor
Bucharest mayor said there were some outstanding administrative steps before the demolition works can actually begin.
„I will come back with more information at the right time. The demolition costs will be initially covered by the municipality, and will eventually be recovered from the owner of the building,” he said.
“ Our goal is that the land on which Cathedral Plaza is now located to be harmoniously integrated into the urban landscape of Bucharest, and there is an openness to collaborate both with the owner and with the District 1 City Hall”, he added.
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It is not controversial, it is illegal.