Government backs down over height of 34-storey building
A 126-metre tower looks set to dwarf Macau's historic Guia Lighthouse after the government backed down yesterday from its demand that the height be lowered.
The intended height of the 34-storey residential building was 'acceptable' with regards to its impact on the lighthouse, Jaime Roberto Carion, director of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau, said outside a legislature meeting.
Macau's land shortage made it impossible to issue an across-the-board ban on building towers around the lighthouse, he said.
San Va Construction, the tower's local developer, had turned down the government's request for a height reduction, he said.
The residential tower is sited beside the Hotel Royal and near the lighthouse. It is already several storeys high and some units have been sold on pre-completion contracts.