Russia Tower Scrapped
Shalva Chigirinsky, the property magnate behind three of Foster & Partner’s major Russian projects has dropped all three, after a series of economic disasters hit home. This weekend, Chigirinsky announced that he had run out of money for the 600 meter tall Russia Tower, which had been touted as Europe’s tallest skyscraper. Building work on the tower began last year, but the project has now been scrapped.
The Zaryadye project, has also been canceled, after one of Chigirinsky’s companies, ST Development, lost the rights to the site. Zarayadye would have included four new hotels and an underground shopping complex, as well as other new entertainment and parking facilities and cost around . Chingirinsky won the tender for the site from Moscow’s City Hall in 2004, with a contract that included full demolition of the existing 1960s structure and a transfer of a 51% stake in the property to the developer. But rival developer Montab lodged a legal challenge, claiming ST had been outbid by two other companies which had been ready to invest billions into the site. The job was rumored to be worth around $800 million.
Last, but by no means least, the Crystal Island development in Moscow has been canceled after the Russian government pulled the necessary $3 billion in funding. Moscow City Hall said it will invest the money in social programs instead, and will look for private investors for the project. In the current economic climate, this seems unlikely. Russia has been particularly hard hit by the economic recession, spending almost all their foreign reserves in a very short space of time, just to keep the markets afloat. The Crystal Island Moscow project could potentially have out-Dubaid Dubai, but Dubai is having major financial problems of their own, with most of the recent announced projects also being canceled, including the plans for a “taller than a kilometer” tower. At the time it was announced, I questioned the use of the word “sustainable,” to describe it, thinking perhaps it meant, “it wont fall over,” but now I have a feeling the meaning of the word may have to change somewhat. “We can afford to build it” ?
Crystal Island Canceled
Foster’s said it had not been informed that any of the projects had been scrapped, and during a discussion at the World Architecture festival just this October, Norman Foster seemed confident that the economic troubles would pass his company by -
I don’t foresee [job cuts at Foster & Partners]. Not at all. Our company was born out of a period of extreme hardship so it’s challenging, but it is what it is. [Now] is a period of great optimism and opportunity. Of course it’s a period of stress and crisis, but that again is cyclical… Having been around a while, you feel you’ve been there before. Norman Foster, October 2008
Whether the cancellation of these three projects impacts that sentiment remains to be seen, although, one would imagine the architect gets paid, regardless of whether it gets built or not…..
