Ofer, whose fortune Forbes estimates at $5.8 billion, invested more than EUR40 million in the 18-story office tower next to the St. Joseph Cathedral in Bucharest, but could not open it because of its battle in court with the Roman-Catholic Archbishopric, which wants the building torn down arguing the construction permit was invalid.
This leaves Papalekas to untangle the legal issues of this case, which has also been sitting on the desk of the Bucharest city mayor Sorin Oprescu for a while.
“Papalekas has recently signed the deal to buy Cathedral Plaza,” sources close to the matter told ZF.
The parties directly involved had not provided any comment by the time the story was ready for posting.
This is the second tenant-less tower with legal issues that low-profile investor Papalekas has bought in the past year, following his acquisition of the Tower Center in Piata Victoriei (central Bucharest). He has already found two tenants for the latter.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)