FURIOUS Alpine locals have blasted wild new plans to create a 65-storey skyscraper in the middle of a tourist village.
The £500 million eyesore will loom over the beautiful, snow-covered Zermatt and has left many asking if there is even any need for the megaproject.
An ambitious entrepreneur is aiming to create Switzerland’s tallest building standing at 850ft near to the Matterhorn mountain.
Heinz Julen, 61, an architect from the area, wants to splash half a billion pounds on creating more housing near to the Alps.
The top 30 storeys which will directly tower over the village of Zermatt are to be reserved for luxury, expensive flats.
These are said to be intended for wealthy foreign investors to admire the snowy peaks of the Alps.
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Julen says the lofty building, provisionally named Lina Peak, will also include a 2,500-seat concert hall, a sports centre, a nursery, shops and restaurants.
The bottom 32 floors will have a vastly different look however, as they will be made up of affordable homes for locals.
The project has been pitched as a vertical solution to the village’s seasonal housing crisis with there currently being little room for new developments.
Due to its prime location in Europe’s most popular mountain range and skiing hotpoint, the village of 5,800 people can often see more than 40,000 needed a bed to sleep in during the peak tourists months.
Up to 1,000 parking spaces are also due to be added.
Another huge issue is the price of housing for those looking to permanently move in.
Real estate value has jumped up to unaffordable rates for many villagers who are looking to move into their first homes or upgrade to accomodate for a family.
Average house prices have now risen to nearly 20,000 Swiss francs (£18,800) per square metre.
This puts the village among the most expensive places in Europe to live.
Julen hopes the skyscraper will help both the existing villagers to be able to afford to stay in Zermatt but also help to pull in tourists due to the allure of the tall stay.
He told Swiss broadcaster SRF: “We have big problems with the housing crisis.
“There’s no space for locals and so many of them simply move away.”
But many locals are far from impressed.
Julen presented his proposals at a public meeting in November where he was met with some fiery backlash.
As he explained the grandiose nature of the skyscraper he announced the ground it will be built on has already been acquired in a plot of farmland in the valley below the town.
It would sit on a square base covering 131ft on each side.
Julen was quickly halted as he went on to describe the skyscraper as a solution to the housing market.
Some residents raised concerns that Lina Peak might actually worsen the issues.
Their main gripe was with overtourism and the building being an overall eyesore to the gorgeous view of the Matterhorn.
Others feared it could be a publicity stunt using the village and its location.
Having the nation’s tallest building on your doorstep would certainly drive up the numbers of tourists coming to visit and could even raise the cost of living with wealthy visitors skewing the booksothers warned.
One joked at the meeting that the sheer size of the skyscraper may even be too big – which he said might actually be a good thing.
“Hopefully it will be tall and wide enough that you can’t see the Matterhorn from the village any more,” he said.
“Then it will no longer be so interesting for the tourists and maybe the apartments will get cheaper.”
Another scolded the plans saying he fears soon enough an entrepreneur could suggest building flats on the Matterhorn mountain itself.