Developer Harry Stinson intended to create a friendly rivalry with Trump for the tallest mixed-use building in Canada with the Sapphire Tower. As a result, the planned heights of both projects were revised several times in an attempt to outdo each other, and Stinson's skyscraper would have been 17 metres taller in its last design. However, the Sapphire Tower failed to gain approval of city council, in part because it would have cast a shadow over Toronto City Hall's Nathan Phillips Square, and its development company filed for bankruptcy in 2007. At that time, the Trump Tower's design was also scaled back and the height was reduced because of the real estate market slowdown. The building was built on a previously vacant lot, used only for parking, between Scotia Plaza and The National Club. Lewis Builds Corporation, a construction and development manager in downtown Toronto, was the construction manager for this project. On March 23, 2007, Talon International Development Incorporated of Markham announced that it had reached an agreement with international bank Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB) to arrange C$310 million in construction financing for its Trump International Hotel & Tower development. Construction began with the removal of the sales centre in September 2007. The official groundbreaking was on October 12, 2007. The hotel portion of the tower was planned to be completed in late 2011. The tower was projected to be completed in early 2012. The building topped out in early September 2011, and the spire was raised on September 24, 2011. The hotel opened for business on January 31, 2012, and its grand opening occurred on April 16, 2012. Work on the top of the building continued until completion in July 2012 with the activation of two high-intensity aircraft warning lights. In May 2017, "The Wall Street Journal" reported that Russian state-owned Vnesheconombank (VEB) provided financing for the construction of the hotel in 2010. According to the Panama Papers, in 2010, Shnaider sold at least half of Midland Group's ownership in the Zaporizhstal steel mill to buyers financed by VEB, who were then themselves acquired by the bank. Shnaider then used proceeds from the sale to partially meet cost overruns at the Tower. Shnaider's lawyer told "The Wall Street Journal" that $15 million from the sale to the Russian bank went into the tower, and then recanted. The tower has been controversial since its opening because of lower than expected occupancy rates in the "hotel-condo" portion of the building that led to a legal battle between real estate investors and Talon International Development.