The Triangle Tower, this forty-storey pyramid supposed to become a symbol of the greatness of Paris, will it really see the light of day? Thirteen years after the presentation of this extremely contested project, its promoter Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield announced in early November that the work would begin. ” by the end of the year ” at the Porte de Versailles (15e arrondissement), thanks to the financial support of the insurer Axa.
The signing of the eighty-three-year construction lease took place at the last minute before the deadline, set at the end of October, after which, in the absence of confirmation, the city would have become the owner of the building. ground. But this official kick-off did not put an end to the controversy, far from it, and the Council of Paris, which opens this Tuesday, November 16 with a debate on the future urban planning rule, will once again be the scene of jousting around of this immense 180-meter building, the tallest construction, with the Duo towers by Jean Nouvel, envisaged in the capital since the inauguration of the Montparnasse tower in 1973.
On this subject, the opponents are in the majority in the city council. On the left, La France insoumise and Europe Ecologie-The Greens are up against this project “Anti-ecological”, “aberrant”, “heir to the functionalist town planning of the 1960s”. Rather than building more offices when many of them have emptied since the Covid-19 pandemic, environmentalists are asking their socialist allies to abandon the Triangle tower, and to build social housing instead.
“Excellent news for attractiveness”
The right, some of whose elected officials had initially supported the site, is now also campaigning for this tower “Disproportionate and anachronistic” stay on the drawing board. It demands the suspension of the project pending the adoption of the new local “bioclimatic” urban plan. ” This energy-intensive building is the result of a pure real estate speculation operation, based on criteria that were completely outdated at the time of the Covid “, plead the elected Republicans (LR).
They recall, moreover, that the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office opened, in June, a preliminary investigation for “favoritism” in this file, after a report of the LR mayor of 7e district, Rachida Dati, and a complaint from the Anticor association. “It is not possible to build this tower for a century which, in reality, no one wants, supports Maud Gatel (MoDem). Even the town hall does not want it any more, even if it cannot say it, because it would have to pay a significant forfeit in case of abandonment. ”
You have 40.15% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.