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TORONTO-A bid to erect one of the country's largest buildings here has gotten a $310-million surge after an Austrian bank announced it will provide construction financing on the Trump International Hotel & Tower. Work is expected to begin later this year on the 70-story combination hotel/condominium complex, which is being advanced by a partnership between Talon International Development Inc. and New York City developer Donald Trump.

"I am very pleased that we were able to leverage our international business interests to secure construction financing with an exceptional European financial institution like RZB," Talon chairman Alex Shnaider says of the commitment by Raiffeisen Zentralbank osterreich AG, the third largest bank in Austria and an active player in the renovation of Central and Eastern Europe this past decade.

"We are delighted to be involved in the financing of this historic and dynamic project," says Karl Sevelda, a member of the RZB board.