Lately, the famous unfinished skyscraper, located near Rondo Mogilskie - 'szkieletor' (the, so called, 'skeletor') - has been the talk of the town. All because of a recent decision, concerning the building, made by City's Architectural-Urbane Commission.
According to that decision, 'skeletor' (official name - TreiMorfa) us due to be completed. Its final height is supposed to be 102,5 metres. The chosen concept is architectonically simple, deprived any inspirations from Cracow's historical buildings, which was previously proposed by the investors. Inside a renovated building there will be office rooms and a hotel. The highest storey will be a public access viewing deck and a restaurant.
Construction of the famous skyscraper started in mid-70's. The building was to be a showcase of Cracow and a beginning of development of areas located near Rondo Mogilskie and Rondo Grzegórzeckie. However, in 1979 the investment was halted. In the 90's there have been multiple ideas concerning the development of the unfinished investment. Some of the plans concerned finishing of the construction (for hotels, among others), some its demolishing, cleaning of the area and construction of new, smaller buildings. None of the ideas was procured. In 2005. a consortium, in which Verity Development company was the main shareholder, became a new owner of the object.
For many people the fate of 'skeletor 'became an unpleasant symbol of the development of country's construction industry. That investment has clearly been an unlucky one. It is astonishing that, even though the investment has had a lot of attention during last 20 years, the problem still has not been solved. Now it may change, but is it sure?
Undoubtedly, a perspective of finishing the building, which for many years has been a blemish on Cracow, must be received with enthusiasm both by the city residents and authorities and also - probably - by the tourists. The paradox is, that for years, the problem was with the investment itself. Now, when it seems that this problem has been overcome, there is a new one, with... the main investor – Verity Development. In the first days of June, ABW's (Internal Security Agency) agents have searched the company's offices. The investigation is confidential, so no details are known. The speculations, arising in media suggest, that the case can have dire consequences. There are suspicions, concerning DMI Trust - a Middle East owner of Verity Development company, and speaking of financing of Islamic terrorist organisations.
We do not know yet how the case will end and will it have any influence on the Polish investments of the company. So, is there reason to worry? Well, in the case of 'skeletor' so many plans have not been actually conducted, that a fiasco of yet another one will not be a surprise to anybody. However, in this case it seems that the outcome may be better than usual. We will shortly see how it turns out.