Bucharest tribunal halts Cathedral Plaza demolition

Bucharest Tribunal ordered that the demolition of the Cathedral Plaza office building, located in one of the most central areas of the capital, be postponed.

Back in 2010, the court decided that the office building was built illegally. The sentence became final two years later, but subsequent mayors have refrained from taking action on the matter. Finally, the Archdiocese sued the project company Millennium Building Development and won in court.

Earlier this summer, Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan approved the demolition of the 19-storey office building. The present owners of Cathedral Plaza filed a complaint against the mayor in reply.

The present postponement of the demolition gives the owners of Cathedral Plaza a chance to have the building reauthorized. The owners also stated that they will be making use of “all available legal means to protect the building,” according to a press release.

The same press release alleges that Nicusor Dan was attempting to demolish Cathedral Plaza even before he became mayor, petitioning the authorities to that end from his position as founder and head of the local Save Bucharest association. Dan defended his decision to move ahead with demolishing the building in a social media post, saying that filing a complaint against the mayor who is simply implementing the court’s final ruling is beyond reason.

Built between 2006 and 2010, Cathedral Plaza has remained empty ever since. The building is located near the Roman Catholic Archdiocese and the St. Joseph’s Cathedral. In 2012, despite the court’s decision a year earlier, the Plaza exchanged hands following a EUR 50 mln deal, landing in the portfolio of Ioannis Papalekas, one of the largest operators of office buildings in Bucharest at the time.

(Photo source: press release)