Credit crunch halts works on Europe's tallest building
Work has stopped on building Europe’s tallest building after developers said their lofty ambitions had been hit by the global financial crisis, a Russian news agency said today.
The credit crisis meant there was no possibility of paying for the 1,968ft Russia Tower and no demand from tenants to fill it, Shalva Chigirinsky, head of developer Russian Land, said.
The tower in Moscow’s new business district was due to be Europe’s largest building when work started in 2007. It was designed by Briton Norman Foster.
It was originally due to have been completed in 2011 and would have been one of the world’s largest amid a boom in high building projects, particularly in the Gulf states.
“The project is frozen,” Mr Chigirinsky said. “This is the decision we have made.”
Since work started, development and real estate have been badly hit by the financial crunch with companies halting projects and housing prices slumping.
“We don’t see any opportunities on the market to finance the project, nor do we see demand for it,” Mr Chigirinsky said. “We have no idea whatsoever what will happen tomorrow.”
Neither Russian Land nor Foster & Partners were available for immediate comment today.
