PARIS | Hermitage Plaza | 320m x 2 | 1050ft x 2 | 86 fl | 85 fl | App

[lampo]

I didn't think that I never could say it, but I really like them and their design, though it's french (no offense). This project will change forever the Paris profile, skyline and image

[tikiturf]

Originally Posted by lampo

I didn't think that I never could say it, but I really like them and their design, though it's french (no offense). This project will change forever the Paris profile, skyline and image

It's not French, the architect is a Brit.

[Jex7844]

And not any architect, the great Sir Norman Foster.

[MissyC]

Tell that to the guy who calls everybody a Troll ...

Wondering if he will still call this project an ugly one and whether or not Sir Norman Foster is a Troll in his eyes too ?!

[Jex7844]

By Ludoboy today:







I guess the asbestos removal is drawing to a close...

[brisavoine]

Great news tonight. All the lawsuits filed by all the opponents against the 8 demolition permits have been rejected by the administrative court of Cergy-Pontoise.

The developer Hermitage still needs to find an agreement with the owners of the neighboring properties before starting demolition.

A fuller article in French:

Le tribunal rejette les recours contre les permis de démolir des Damiers

Defense-92.fr
5 septembre 2012



Le tribunal administratif de Cergy-Pontoise a rejeté le 23 juillet dernier les très nombreux recours visant à faire annuler les huit permis de démolir des bâtiment des Damiers Infra, Anjou et Bretagne. Les permis de démolir avaient été attaqués par l'ASL (Association Syndicale Libre), les deux syndics des Damiers Champagne et Dauphiné, la pharmacie des Damiers, le restaurant des Feuillantines et l'association Vivre à La Défense.

Tout n'est pas pour autant réglé pour le promoteur Hermitage qui projette d'ériger ses tours à la place des Damiers. Le promoteur Russe doit toujours trouver un terrain d'entente avec l'ASL pour avoir le droit de lancer la démolition des trois bâtiments. Sans compter que les requérants déboutés devraient, sans surprise, faire appel de la décision du tribunal de Cergy-Pontoise. Enfin le promoteur devra régler la multitude de recours contre les trois permis de construire d'Hermitage Plaza. Mais sur ce point, Emin Iskenderov a toujours déclaré qu'il les balaierait d'un revers de main et qu'il lancerait la construction sans attendre les jugements.

[...]

http://www.defense-92.fr/lesnewsdeladefense.html

[ThatOneGuy]

So, is that the last one? When is demolition supposed to start?

[Jex7844]

Well, the opponents are now yet to decide whether to appeal against the Court's decision or not. If so, we'll have to wait for the Court to give its verdict 12 months later...

On the other hand, if the opponents were to listen to the voice of reason by deciding not to appeal (as it would be risky/costly for them), Hermitage will 'only' need to compromise (financially speaking) with the residents living in the other 2 Damiers buildings (Champagne & Dauphiné), indeed, given that they are co-owners they want the extra charges implied by INFRA's demolition to be payable by Hermitage.

On this matter, Emin Iskenderov seems fairly optimistic, an agreement would be in progress...

So, to answer your question ThatOneGuy, the demolition may be taking place hopefully by the end of this year, if not, next summer...to be continued.

[RobertWalpole]

[yankee fan for life]

wow something to finally challenge the Eiffel tower .

[Jex7844]

[Jex7844]

To date, the association Vivre à la Défense still hasn't appealed against the last Court's decision. The latter had rejected on 23 July 2012 all the appeals against the demolition permits

That means that the association has now 2 weeks left to appeal (up to October 28th), if they don't do so, the decision will be definitive.

Having said that, I personally have a feeling that the Association is waiting for the very last moment to appeal to save time, & obviously, to taunt Hermitage.

[Eric Offereins]

Just tear it down. The current building won't be missed.

[Jex7844]

As expected, the damned association Vivre à la Défense appealed against the latest Court's decision (see post #952).

Therefore, the demolition of the Infra building is still not allowed...

[Jex7844]

An interesting article found by G-E Renaud:

By Christian Plumb

PARIS, Nov 4 (Reuters) -

For Paris, a city whose priciest apartments boast mansard roofs and wrought-iron balconies, it's an audacious bet: a pair of shimmering, largely residential, luxury towers that might look more at home in Dubai or Shanghai.

So far the improbable 2.2 billion-euro ($2.88 billion)development of what would be Europe's tallest buildings - eclipsing London's controversial 'Shard' skyscraper - has confounded the naysayers in overcoming preliminary hurdles.

If the Hermitage Plaza towers, designed by British architect Norman Foster, do see the light of day, they could transform the concrete canyons of Paris's La Defense district, now nearly all offices. They could also spur more modern high-end residential construction in a city best-known for its grand 19th-century boulevards.

"The idea is to create a Manhattan in the French style in La Defense," said Emin Iskenderov, head of the Hermitage Group, which is developing the towers. "There are many people nowadays who want more than the traditional charming Paris apartment."

The project received planning permission in March and has since beaten back several legal challenges from local groups.

One of those groups, Vivre a la Defense, representing tenants of a building that needs to be demolished to make way for Hermitage Plaza, last month appealed to France's highest court after a lower court setback.

Opponents criticise the project for its treatment of local residents. They say Iskenderov's plan to replace the area's moderately priced apartments with luxury ones is wrongheaded in a country that suffers from a housing shortage.

"If it doesn't work, we'll be in big trouble," said Jean-Andre Lasserre, Socialist councillor for Courbevoie, a neighbourhood that adjoins La Defense. "If it does work, we'll have the type of people who live there for one or two months out of the year. The rest of the time it will be empty."

Still, the project - first trumpeted by then-President Nicolas Sarkozy during a visit to St Petersburg two years ago, alongside his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and Iskenderov himself - has been signed off on by the mayor of Courbevoie, a member of Sarkozy's centre-right party.

The Russian-born developer told Reuters he is on track to get bank financing by January at the latest, even though the amount needed has jumped to 1.2 billion euros from a previously targeted 700 million.

Getting more from the banks now would allow the 36-year-old Iskenderov, who has raised eyebrows with his sudden emergence on the French real estate scene, to rely less on the proceeds of apartment sales.

"We don't want to sell them in a hurry because that would mean a loss in value," Iskenderov said, while insisting that he had already heard from 4,000 potential buyers for the family-sized apartments, which measure 200 square meters on average.

"The idea is to sell them as close to the delivery date as possible," he said, predicting completion in early 2019 - a good three years later than initially forecast.

Born in Moscow, Iskenderov moved to France with his parents at the age of 15, then in 1998 back to Moscow, where he eventually joined Mirax, a now-bankrupt developer known for luxury housing.

Hermitage began as Mirax's French unit and split off in 2009 with funds that Iskenderov says account for most of the roughly 200 million euros in equity he plans to plough into the project.

Iskenderov has high-profile allies, including the public entities that manage La Defense. The site's main contractor will be construction firm Bouygues, whose head Martin Bouygues is godfather to one of Sarkozy's sons.

"COLOSSAL" LOAN

While Iskenderov paints the loan as a near certainty, even pinpointing the rate at 7 percent, others expressed skepticism.

"At this moment, obtaining that level of financing is complicated," said Ludovic Delaisse, head of the offices department at commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield in France. "A 2 billion-euro project is colossal."

Iskenderov also said 15 hotel operators had expressed interest in the right to run a five-star hotel that would be part of the complex. A final decision will be made within a couple of months, he said.

Another 13 percent of the towers will be set aside for office space, with lower rise buildings included in the complex to house a high-end shopping mall, student apartments and even an art gallery.

If the project is to succeed Iskenderov will have to transform perceptions of the La Defense neighbourhood - a tall order given its image as a financial district which goes deathly quiet on weekends and after working hours.

"We're going to fill this void just so there is life at La Defense after 8 p.m.," Iskenderov said, adding London's Canary Wharf, a similarly purpose-built office district outside the city centre, had done better at promoting after hours life.

Bringing apartments to La Defense, where offices have suffered from high vacancy, echoes initiatives in London where developers have bet on residential schemes in commercial zones like the financial district, West End, and even Canary Wharf.

MULTI-USE

To bring about such changes, the Hermitage Plaza project envisions France's first truly mixed-use complex - akin to the Shard or New York's Time Warner building.

The New York building had little trouble luring tenants like Time Warner alongside a high-end shopping mall and top-priced apartments. But it sits at the corner of Central Park, while the Hermitage's location has no such allure.

A multi-use project with apartments, a hotel and offices risks not doing any one thing particularly well.

Foster, whose phallic Gherkin tower made a permanent mark on London and who has given the 85- and 86-story Hermitage towers an aura of architectural respectability, declined to comment.

Socialist President Francois Hollande's tax hikes, which have some wealthy French eyeing the exits, could be another headwind. Iskenderov says he would aim to sell about 40 percent of the apartments to foreigners.

"Even though I think it's actually important to breathe new life into La Defense and make it more of a mixed neighbourhood, with stores, schools and residences, I'm not a big believer in combining those all in a single building," said Alexis Motte, an executive with tenant representative Mobilitis.

Financing "will be very difficult", and political issues will still need to be resolved, he said.

Still Iskenderov has beaten the odds so far.

"I didn't believe in it at all, but it's becoming more and more credible," Motte said. ($1 = 0.7651 euros) (Reporting by Christian Plumb; Editing by Peter Graff)


* Development to cost 2.2 bln euros

* Hermitage Plaza towers designed by UK architect Foster

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8LV3P420121104

[Eric Offereins]

That doesn't look good. ..

[Groningen NL]

Socialists...

[gdipasqu]

Originally Posted by Groningen NL

Socialists...

You should say Bureaucracy or Officialdom

[MissyC]

I can cry now

[Groningen NL]

Originally Posted by gdipasqu

You should say Bureaucracy or Officialdom

That too