The co-owners of the Montparnasse Tower rejected this Wednesday, after bitter quarrels, the launch of the first phase of work on the tallest skyscraper in Paris, bringing down the rest of the ambitious renovation project like a house of cards.
The resolution providing for “initiating the renovation work by signing a contract for asbestos removal, cleaning, partial removal of the facade” was rejected by more than 76% by the co-owners of the Montparnasse tower, one of them told AFP. However, this general assembly was the last chance to launch the work before the building permit granted for the renovation of the office tower expires at the end of November.
Explosion in the cost of work
On the table since 2015, the vast renovation included a metamorphosis into a glass tower with tree-lined terraces, hosting a hotel, shops and services, as well as an agricultural greenhouse on its roof, for a total cost of 800 million euros. The main co-owner of the LFPI skyscraper had expressed his opposition to the project in July, which he had supported until then, because of the explosion in the estimated cost and internal tensions around exchanges of space. The summer was not enough to resolve this internal conflict and LFPI was joined by other co-ownership heavyweights, including MGEN and Axa, in its opposition to the renovation project.
The renovation would therefore focus on much less ambitious work, changing the facade, bringing it into compliance, removing asbestos, and would however rule out the addition of an agricultural greenhouse on the roof and a hotel. As it stands, the project is “forgotten”, with an impact also on the renovation of the shopping center at the foot of the tower, deplores Frédéric Lemos, former president of the building union council and co-owner, who is involved in the internal conflict. “We hope that all the co-owners, the financial partners and the public authorities can quickly come together to examine all the solutions to transform the Montparnasse Tower,” add the four co-owners. In a press release, the City of Paris requests “that an alternative solution can be proposed in order to prevent the site from remaining permanently shut down”.
