Greek company Lamda Development secures site near Kalemegdan after seven years

The green light was finally given for building the long-awaited residential and commercial complex on the site of the former factory "Beko" below Kalemegdan. After seven years, the Greek investor Lamda Development obtained a court ruling saying that it can dispose of the whole site. Now they are awaiting a multi-million euro compensation for the delay of the site delivery!

Complications started in 2007 after the auction was completed and a sales contract worth EUR 55.8m was paid, when it was determined that the owner of one third of the site in Vojvode Bojovića Street was not Beko but the Serbian Army.

“A legal dispute about one of the three parcels was not mentioned anywhere in the documents we received from the state before the auction” the Serbian branch office of Lamda Development explained.

“The only thing hindering the start of construction works was a court dispute, which has now ended with a judgement by the Commercial Court of Appeal.”

However, the sales agreement for the Beko factory anticipates penalties for the vendor to the tune of 55,800 for each day of delay in delivering possession of the property, starting from 1 January 2008. The investor took possession of its property, purchased through auction in 2007, in April this year!

“The procedure for exercising this right is under way before the Commercial Court in Belgrade. However, as responsible businessmen and great friends of the Serbian people, we have submitted a proposal for a court settlement”, said Lamda representatives. “Somewhat more than EUR 24m of our original payment is still in the account of Beko. All debts have been settled, so it is now up to the court to decide how much money the Army, which was in litigation with Beko when we bought the building, will receive as compensation and how much compensation we will receive. The rest of the money would go to the state, that owns 40% of shares, and to small shareholders who own 60% of Beko. This is our way of showing our willingness to cooperate.

Although the entire project was delayed, the investor was not standing idly by. More than ten million euros were invested in developing the preliminary design made by the well-known London company Zaha Hadid Architects and in clearing the site. It is estimated that the construction cost of the multifunctional complex will be at least EUR 200m.

“We have a location permit confirming the project, architecture, height, size, borders of building lots and indices of construction and occupancy, and the next step is to get a notice of commencement of works.”

The commencement date remains unknown. Construction will be more expensive because of the plan to use new, modern materials and systems, but the schedule will also be extended. However, the most stringent environmental protection criteria will be respected, which will be more cost-effective for the future residents of the new residential complex.

This investment will not only fill the city coffers. As they said in Lamda, the project will engage more than 2,000 workers from the beginning of planning until completion.
“The complex will employ 1,000 people of various professions, from experts in the field of communications, finance, engineering, medicine, to all kinds of service providers”, explained the Lamda representative.

Translation provided by: www.halifax-translation.com