OREANDA-NEWS. May 12, 2014. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Viru Hotell Plc (Hotel Viru) regarding the expenses made with obtaining a building permit, but the exact sum of the compensation will be decided later by an administrative court.

The court found that the partial revoking of the detailed plan of Viru Square, implemented in 1999, violated the rights of Hotel Viru in the name of public interest, the court's spokesperson Merje Talvik told uudised.err.ee today.

Tallinn held a procurement for the development of the Viru square in 1996. It was won by a plan that included a highrise annex to the hotel which would have included 140 hotel rooms. The city approved the plan three years later.

In 2008, four years after the Viru Center, a shopping complex next to the hotel, was completed in its current form, Tallinn City Council revoked the detailed plan agreed upon 10 years before on the grounds that it would disrupt the view to the Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The local government must reimburse the investments made with the prospect of the initial plan remaining valid, but excluding expected profits, Talvik said.

Hotel Viru sued in 2010 after receiving a damages estimate from the real estate firm Colliers International. The final claim then, 11 million euros, did not include loss of potential profits, but included the 450,000 euros that had already been spent on planning.

Tallinn District Court ruled in favor of Hotel Viru in 2013, overturning a previous decision by the administrative court.