According to a story surfaced on Gizmodo, the luxury high-rise tower, which started construction in 2007, was originally designed for 20 floors. But the the developers decided to push the design to include 47 floors with 269 homes. When completed, it will be Benidorm’s highest building at 650 feet.
There seemed to be just one important oversight: In going up to 47 floors, designers forgot to take into account room for an elevator shaft. El Pais reports that the architects on the project resigned in May 2012.
The building “represents a long story of incompetence,” according to El Pais. The coastal town had a building boom that led to the nickname “Beniyork” for its skyline of high-rises.
But then the recession hit. Intempo’s developer, which had once advertised the building as the “banner of the future,” and the bank that provided the loan for construction both went bankrupt in 2009. The building has cost €100 million so far.
“We had heard reports on the elevator last week when we listed the building to generate advance interest,” wrote Terry Walker, a spokesperson for Walker Property Spain’s London office, in an email to Yahoo News.
“In the light of the other problems that have been overcome at Intempo, we would be confident that a solution can be found,” Walker said.
Already 35 percent of the apartments have been sold to international buyers — the site describes the abodes as "Dubai style luxury." The building is 95 percent complete, and it is expected to be done by spring 2014.
Expect, too, a built-in exercise regime.
