Elbtower Hamburg construction standoff, Digi Mart USA News (Hamburg, Germany): Plans called for Hamburg’s tallest skyscraper, but construction at the Elbtower in the HafenCity district has been at a standstill for three years. One of the companies involved now threatens to dismantle a crane to pressure negotiations with the city, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), which reported the development.
According to the FAZ, the Hesse-based construction firm Lupp built the 100-meter-high shell of the Elbtower. The company reportedly announced it will remove a tower crane from the construction site at the Elbbrücken as early as next week, and possibly also take away specialized equipment needed to complete the building.
The newspaper quotes Lupp managing director Thilo Moser: “The message is: City of Hamburg, move. Otherwise we’re out of here!”
The work stoppage follows the insolvency of the Signa Group of Austrian entrepreneur René Benko. A consortium led by real estate investor Dieter Becken, which includes Lupp, is currently negotiating with the city over completing the project.
Hamburg has offered to take over half of the Elbtower for 595 million euros and house the planned natural history museum there. So far, however, no agreement has been reached.
