justice makes its decision before the summer
The administrative court of Toulouse examined this Friday, May 20, 2022 the appeal filed by opponents to the construction of the Tour Occitanie. The decision should be made before the summer.
A skyscraper project, the first that could come out of the ground in Toulouse, was at the heart of a legal hearing this Friday, May 20, 2022. The administrative court was examining the appeal filed by associations and residents. The public rapporteur rejected their arguments, but we will have to wait to know the court’s decision.
Opponents of the construction of a building 150 meters high in the center of Toulouse are not at their first attempt. Several appeals aimed at canceling the building permit for the Tour Occitanie have been filed since September 2019. And this Friday, May 20, the project was once again called into question before the administrative court of Toulouse.
At the origin of this referral to justice: four associations including France nature environment and Right to housing, as well as local residents. All denounce an unfinished, disproportionate, polluting project.
The tower today cannot be built. We do not know its energy consumption, we do not know its real impact on the environment. What do we do with a project that is not completed? How can the people of Toulouse understand that a building permit has been granted?
Me Alice Terrasse, lawyer for the plaintiffs
During this hearing, the public rapporteur of the administrative court of Toulouse rejected the arguments of opponents of the skyscraper. The project leaders have reaffirmed their ambitions.
The project for this 40-storey skyscraper culminating at 153m in height was designed by the American architect Daniel Libeskind. Vegetated from top to bottom, with spiral glass facades, the Tour Occitanie is to house 11,000 m2 of offices, shops, just over a hundred housing units, a panoramic restaurant-bar, a hotel and SNCF premises.
“It is a project in which we believe a lot. We are not going to look for architects internationals, like Daniel Libeskind, to release a mediocre product“Said Eric Paillot, vice-president of the Compagnie de Phalsbourg, which is leading this real estate project.
This systematic reflex of saying “they’re going to hurt” seems partisan to me. Verticality, we like it or we don’t like it, but it’s a response to our environmental problems.
Eric Paillot, vice-president Compagnie de Phalsbourg
The construction of this tower would be a first in the 4th city of France,
free from tall buildings. The administrative court of Toulouse should make its decision before the summer. If it rejects the appeals, the associations will still have the possibility of appealing to the Council of State.