Real estate investor Eyal Ofer to sue Romania over high rise blocked by court order

Real estate investor Eyal Ofer, co-chairman of Miller Global, an American real estate company which has been trying to develop the Cathedral Plaza office building in Bucharest, Romania, plans to go to court against the country at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. He claims that his company has lost EUR 25 million after not being able to continue works on the building, as Bishop Ioan Robu claimed the 19-story 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 Ofer, who has recently taken part in a press conference in Romania. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Cathedral Plaza)