More than 50 people took a tour of the Federation Tower on Friday after developer Mirax Group announced a promotion to try to sell empty space in what was slated to become the country's largest skyscraper.
Sergei Polonsky, owner of Mirax Group, offered $100 guided tours of his Federation Tower on Friday through Sunday in an attempt to sell space in the stalled project.
“We’re selling everything! We need money!” the company said on its web site. Polonsky, who has a fortune of $150 million according to Finans magazine, conducted personal tours of the building for $100 per person. The price included snacks and champagne on the 62nd floor, the company said.
"At the moment, the number of people wanting to take the tour has exceeded the limit. Therefore not everyone will be able to go on the tour," a source told RIA-Novosti. "One tour lasts an hour and a half."
The purpose of the tour is to sell apartments, not to earn money for the corporation, the source said, adding that Mirax was considering the possibility of extending the promotion.
Polonsky had said he would shorten the tower by a third to get banks to unfreeze lending. Mirax, which has built 64 of a planned 94 stories, said it will cost $100 million to complete the building as is versus $240 million to reach the 506 meters originally envisaged, Kommersant reported on Dec. 8.
(Bloomberg, MT)