On November 17, 2014, the City Council of Paris rejected the construction of a 180-meter Triangle skyscraper in the historic center. 83 deputies voted against, and 78 voted for it. However, the new Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo intends to contest this decision in court, as some MPs expressed their views openly and so depriving the voting secret status, says the Mayor. Project’s followers say it will create 5,000 new jobs, informs the ee24.com citing the French media.
Project of Tour Triangle was designed by the Swiss architectural Herzog & De Meuron bureau from Basel in 2008. It was planned to build a 40-storey building, which could become the third highest in the center of Paris after the Eiffel Tower (324 meters; the years of construction: 1887-89) and the Montparnasse Tower (210 meters; 1969-72), but the construction was not started in 2013-2014 because of the protests. The estimated time of commissioning is 2018.
Assessed value of the Tour Triangle is €535 million. The investor is Unibail-Rodamco holding company. Place of construction – south west of Paris, 15th arrondissement, near the exhibition center Porte de Versailles, in fact it’s on the "outskirts" of the historic center of the French capital. Tour Triangle could become the first skyscraper built in the city since summer 2014 when were cancelled zoning laws of the 1970s which prohibited developing in Paris buildings exceeding 37 meters.
Tour Triangle project in Paris
Property prices in Paris decreased in the summer 2014 by 3.5%, and by 9.1% since March 2011. The average cost of a "square" in the French capital is now €7850.