Tall & Urban News

The prefecture of Haute-Garonne has published the favorable opinions of the public commission of inquiry concerning the urban project ToulouseEuroSudOuest (TESO), and the building permit of the tower Occitanie.

Toulouse Metropole welcomed this result in a press release, saying that the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry constitute great opportunities to further improve the project in the months and years to come.

The tower was designed several years ago by New York architect Daniel Libeskind with 4,500 square meters of planted areas and 700 trees.

The Commission’s concerns focused on the first nine hectares, to verify the accounting of the site with public lands use, the heights of construction, and the volume of social housing.

They decided on the permit after asking the promoter, Compagnie de Phalsbourg, who will build the 35,500-square-meter tower, to finance 3,950 square meters of social housing within the first phase of TESO.

Opponents wanted to see integrated social housing within the building itself.

Richard Mebaoudj, the president of the Collective, No to the Toulouse Skyscraper, says he is not surprised by this favorable opinion and the limited reservations “despite the many contentious issues raised during the public inquiry.”

Adding, “Our litigation on these matters is ongoing and will be judged by the Administrative Court in 2020.”

The mayor of Toulouse, Jean-Luc Moudenc, has given instructions for the building permit of the Tour Occitanie, submitted in July 2018, to be signed in the next few days by his assistant in charge of the town planning, Annette Laigneau.

The promoter, Compagnie de Phalsbourg, has committed to honor all the reserves and recommendations issued by the Commission of Inquiry, which also issued a request for open-air green spaces in the TESO perimeter.

Based on these findings, the first demolitions could begin in the fall of 2019.

For more on this story go to Le Moniteur