Ireland’s tallest building repossessed- World’s tallest building to be built in only 90 days?

 

 

 

The Irish Times

 

Ireland’s tallest building has effectively been repossessed, it has been confirmed.

The 85m-high (279 ft) Obel Tower in Belfast was built at the height of the property boom  but administrators have been called in because its owners owe the bank millions.

 

An official notice on the Belfast Gazette web page — the government publication for details of insolvency and company law — said KPMG had been appointed after building contractors and construction companies Obel Ltd, Obel Offices Ltd and Donegall Quay Ltd which control the massive building, applied for insolvency.

The 28-storey skyscraper was built at Donegall Quay in 2005 for £75 million (€90m).

 

The plans initially included 180 luxury apartments, a hotel and prime office space along Belfast’s redeveloped waterfront.

 

In 2007, some studio apartments went on the market for £90,000 (€110,000) while the penthouses had a price tag of around half a million pounds.

 

Since its construction the Obel Tower has been the subject of some adverse publicity and was shortlisted as one the ugliest buildings in the UK.

 

The economic downturn and subsequent property crash has also made it difficult to sell small studio apartments in a city where space is not at a premium.

 

This has meant that although the six floor office block is occupied by top international legal firm Allen and Overy much of the rest of the giant complex is still empty. ______________________________________________________

 

 

By Julie Zeveloff | Business Insider

 

The world’s tallest building is reportedly back on track to be constructed in just 90 days, despite rumors last month that the Chinese construction company behind the project was behind schedule. A senior vice president for the construction company, Broad Sustainable Building, told Construction Week Online.com that plans to build the 838-meter (2,749 feet) skyscraper in the Hunan Province capital of Changsha “will go on as planned with the completion of five storeys a day.” On the current timetable, the building should be finished by March 2013. BSB announced plans for the 220-story skyscraper, called Sky City, in June.

 

The company said the building would top out at 838 meters — 10 meters higher than the Burj Khalifa, which is currently the world’s tallest building — and cost $628 million to construct, a fraction of the cost of the Burj. It also promised to do the work at light speed, saying it would finish the project in just three months. The Burj took five years to build, in comparison.

 

BSB plans to do the work quickly by using a proprietary prefabrication technique. It eventually hopes to sell standardized skyscrapers around the world and become the “McDonald’s of the sustainable building industry,” wrote Wired’s Lauren Hilgers in a profile of BSB president Zhang Yue. Sky City will be mixed use, with luxury apartments, low income housing, and space for businesses and retail, according to the company.

 

It will also be earthquake-resistant and have 31 high-speed elevators to take visitors to the upper-level observation decks, the company has said. BSB has already build 16 structures in China, including a three-story building that went up in nine days and a 30-story hotel constructed in just 15 days.

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