Europe's largest listed property group Unibail-Rodamco has signed an agreement with the Epadesa public authority for the development of an 'alternative project' on the site of the Phare tower in Paris' La Défense financial district.
Europe's largest listed property group Unibail-Rodamco has signed an agreement with the Epadesa public authority for the development of an 'alternative project' on the site of the Phare tower in Paris' La Défense financial district.
Unibail-Rodamco said on Friday that it has created a partnership with the public authority for the design of a mixed-use scheme with about 75,000 m2 of office space and 20,000 m2 dedicated to a hotel and services accessible to the public.
The partnership aims to file a building permit application in the first half of 2016, with the current project, the Phare tower, being maintained until the new programme has obtained 'all final authorisations'.
This new project, reaching a height of 200 metres, is expected to represent a total investment of €630 mln, the company added.
The Franco-Dutch property group initially reached an agreement in 2010 with Epadesa for the development of the Phare tower representing an investment of around €900 mln.
The 300-metre high office project was however strongly opposed by local associations and elected officials. Opponents took the matter to court in 2011 and alleged that there were irregularities in relation to several steps in the authorisation process. Unibail-Rodamco won both the case and the appeal.
