You're welcome CharlotteJ
.
Many thanks for your initiative on facebook!
La Defense could be a lot more impressive indeed, especially with the addition of taller buildings, I do agree with you. Hopefully, it will be the case if PHARE tower, Hermitage Plaza & GENERALI are built.
Building very tall towers in France is very difficult, even in La Défense...the nimbies, associations & some political parties currently try their best to make them fail via heaps of appeals made possible owing to stupid regulations that enable those people to delay the projects for months/years.
That's what's happening with HERMITAGE PLAZA whose works should have started last summer, but the remaining people living in LES DAMIERS (residences to be destoyed to make room for HP) appealed because they refuse to go despite numerous relocation proposals...Iskenderov (russian promoter is boiling...) Not sure that HP will come true given the economic downturn+ change of President (if Sarkozy isn't reelected next May).
For PHARE, same...several appeals and a judiciary procedure which, if it was to go all the way, could delay the project up to 4 or 5 years...it's very frustrating as it happens all the time with those damned nimbies...they have way to much power thanks to the french laws...
Having said that, PHARE's preliminary works should have started late 2011 but now, the mayor of Courbevoie (who had always backed the project so far), has changed his mind a bit (political manoeuvre as he wants his inhabitants to reelect him). Unibail has submitted 3 proposals regarding a passerelle (cf PHARE thread for full story), but that Mayor (Jacques Kossowski) is still not satisfied, so, time wastage goes on...
GENERALI has been abandoned last year by the italian company, but they're trying to sell the project to another investor. To date, there's no 'touch' but negociations continue with around 20 investors. I'm optimistic about this tower because if it's taken over, work will start at once as all appeals had been previously cleared.
A lovely hotel project (HOTEL CITY VIEW), that we all thought was dead, is said to have found a german investor lately, therefore, work could begin early february.
Tour AIR² (next to D2 tower), is to start mid 2012 with the destruction of the current tower 'Aurore'.
I invite you to take a look at the other projects (U/C or to come):
- TOUR D2
HERE
- TOUR MAJUNGA
HERE
- TOUR EQHO
HERE
- HOTEL CITY VIEW
HERE
- Tour AIR²
HERE
- TOUR PHARE
HERE
- TOUR HERMITAGE PLAZA
HERE
- TOUR GENERALI
HERE
- TOUR AVA
HERE
Many thanks for your interest CharlotteJ...