An Australian court has told Apple it needs to complete the stalled renovation of a retail space in Brisbane’s historic MacArthur Chambers building, whether its going to use it or not.
A Queensland state court ruled this week that Apple must continue paying for the work necessary for its portion of retail space within the MacArthur Chambers building. Apple must fund construction within its portion of the building until such a time that the building owner can lease the space to another tenant, according to ifoAppleStore (via TUAW).
Roughly half the interior work on the space is reported to be complete, and that work needs to be finished before another retailer could begin working on their own interior. Apple began taking bids from contractors soon after the court’s ruling was handed down.
The MacArthur Chambers building was built in the 1930s and was used by General Douglas MacArthur as the allied forces’ South West Pacific Area headquarters during World War II. Plans by Apple to use space in the building were released in April of 2011, after a development application was filed with the Brisbane City Council.
The project was expected to cost upwards of $11.4 million. The project ran into problems when the contractor for the construction, Kell & Rigby, went bankrupt. Apple decided to cancel the project in November 2012, and no work has been done since.
