A controversial high-rise construction project in central Vienna looks set to keep the Austrian capital on UNESCO’s endangered list, according to a draft decision released this week.

Vienna’s historic city centre, encompassing the entirety of the first district, or Innenstadt, and parts of the surrounding districts, was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.

However, in 2017, the organisation – a special agency of the United Nations promoting international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture – raised objections regarding the proposed height of the mixed-use Heumarkt Neu project near the Stadtpark, resulting in Vienna being red-listed.

The project involves a residential block, a conference centre designed to replace the 1960s Intercontinental Hotel, and a central open space.

The residential block, initially planned to stand at 74 metres tall, has since been scaled down to 44 metres by developer Wertinvest. However, the conference centre planned to replace the Intercontinental is still taller than the current building. As a result, the project still doesn’t meet UNESCO’s rules, which limit building heights in Vienna’s city centre to 43 metres.

The project lay at the heart of a corruption trial involving former Vienna city councillor Christoph Chorherr (Green Party), who stood accused of accepting donations from developers, including Wertinvest CEO Michael Tojner, in return for favourable planning decisions.

Chorherr was declared innocent in May.

The UNESCO document, released on Thursday, precedes the organisation’s meeting scheduled for July 21-31 in New Delhi, where the final decision will be made. “The World Heritage Committee decides to retain the historic centre of Vienna (Austria) on the List of World Heritage in Danger,” states the “Draft Decision.”

While the document acknowledges several revisions made to the project, it requests that Austria provide an additional update on the conservation status of the World Heritage site by February 1, 2025.