The best laid schemes

Warsaw-based developer Maripol (which has since changed its name to Magnus) recently announced it is abandoning its Złoty Staw investment. The decision leaves almost 100 customers without flats, despite having paid zł.5,000 each for reservation agreements.

"This developing project had to be canceled due to the problems with getting a building permit for that investment," said Paweł Arabas, the head of the Złoty Staw project. "The investor has decided that the project's timetable was overextended. We have already begun repaying our former clients."

The first request for a building permit was submitted by Maripol in September 2005. A conditional permit was granted by Warsaw's City Hall, but tenants of an apartment building just north of the development site complained. The protesters were concerned about the height of the eight-storey building and the likelihood that it would overshadow their apartments.

After receiving complaints, Maripol decided to alter its previous plans and the building was reduced to three storeys.

"But it was still not enough for our neighbors and the issue of the building permit was sent up to the next level, which in that case meant the voivodship's office," said Arabas.

Arabas confirmed that the developer does not plan to build on this site anymore.

As Maripol's experience illustrates, receiving a building permit is not always easy.

"It happens very often that one developer is granted a building permit while another meets with refusal," said Aleksander Hetko of Hogan&Hartson law firm. "A project seems to meet all the necessary requirements, but the officials may refuse to give it the green light due to subjective factors."