Tours de Levallois project seeks new investors

The Tours de Levallois project in the Parisian suburb of Levallois is looking for new investors after the city recovered development rights from Saudi entrepreneur Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber.

The Middle Eastern businessman obtained the building rights for the 125,000 m² complex in June 2008 on behalf of its MBI International & Partners company. The project envisaged the construction of a EUR 1 bn complex including 85,000 m² of office space on 38 floors, a shopping mall and a 400-room luxury hotel on the banks of the Seine river, with completion planned for end-2012.

MBI said at the time that the scheme was expected to be financed by the group's 'traditional financial partners such as BNP Paribas, JP Morgan, Merryl Lynch, Deutsche Bank and Standard Bank'. However, construction was suspended in the following months due to payment delays.

'The city of Levallois and the Semarelp public-private partnership have regained control of the development rights which will allow them to successfully manage the project in partnership with new investors,' the city said in a statement.

The Commercial Court of Paris has also asked Al Jaber to pay EUR 20 mln in damages to Semarelp.

It will be the third attempt by the city to carry out the project with private investors after Spanish group Fadesa withdrew in 2002.