Potala Tower has broken ground, and will include 142 hotel rooms and 342 apartments when completed in 2017. The start comes about seven months after its unusual groundbreaking ceremony that involved Buddhist monks chanting and ringing bells to bring blessings to the project. The tower is named after the palace that used to be the Dalai Lama's primary residence in Tibet, reports the Puget Sound Business Journal. The Bellevue-based developer, Lobsang Dargey, is originally from Tibet, and spent time as a monk himself. [PSBG]
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