Have you always dreamed of owning a tower from which you dominate the city and the world? Do not wait any longer. The Mercuriales, the Parisian Twin Towers, are for sale. The companies to which these two towers which overlook eastern Paris belong filed for bankruptcy, then they were placed in receivership on November 7, 2021. Since then, the two judicial administrators in charge of the file have been looking for a buyer. A sales mandate was given to BNP Paribas, which solicited 150 investors and promoters, and began visits.
But nothing has yet been concluded for these two lighthouses planted on the edge of the ring road, Porte de Bagnolet. “And we won’t let anything happen”, warns the mayor (Socialist Party) of Bagnolet, Tony Di Martino. In June 2019, on the occasion of a change of ownership, an impressive renovation plan was promised for these 33-storey towers, among the tallest in the Paris region. “Les Mercuriales have been a forgotten icon of eastern Paris for years. We intend to make it the landmark of the new vision of Paris,” announced the Briton David Zisser, CEO of the Anglo-Israeli real estate company Omnam and major organizer of the project.
His idea ? Empty the twin towers of their last occupants. Dismantle them. Rehabilitate them from top to bottom. Replace offices in one, and set up in the other two hotels intended primarily for Asian tourists. Add a large glass space at the bottom, a kind of interior street where the reception of the hotels, the lobby of the offices and the shops would be. Then resell everything, and quickly earn a lot of money.
“Various appeals have blocked everything”
Nothing happened as planned. The schedule has slipped a bit. After close discussions with the authorities, in particular the architect of the Buildings of France, the building permit was granted by the town hall of Bagnolet, in February 2020. Then “Various appeals have blocked everything, once again”, recounts Olivia Michaud, one of Omnam’s lawyers. A last resort must still be dealt with by the judges before the license is valid.
At the same time, the health crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic has shaken up the hotel market as well as the office market. The American group Marriott has given up the 842 rooms it intended to operate under the Sheraton and Moxy brands. Candidates interested in offices have also become rarer.
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