Paris tenants fight for flats developers want to destroy to make way for skyscrapers

There are plans for two towers designed by Norman Foster which will be the tallest buildings in western Europe, but the tenants are refusing to leave

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The two buildings of the Damiers Estate in Courbevoie that are expected to be demolished to make way for gigantic twin towers. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:03pm, 1 Sep 2018Updated: 12:02pm, 1 Sep 2018

A group of tenants near Paris whose flats are to be destroyed to build the tallest skyscrapers in western Europe are refusing to leave after fighting for years to save their homes.

The Hermitage towers, two 320-metre (1050-foot) buildings proposed by a Russian property developer, are due to be completed by 2024 in the La Defense business district to coincide with the city’s hosting of the Olympic Games.

An artist’s impression of the giant Hermitage Plaza towers designed by British architect Norman Foster, in La Defense near Paris. Photo: Reuters/Groupe Hermitage/Foster + Partners

Designed by British architect Norman Foster, the towers will stand just four metres shorter than the Eiffel Tower (324 metres from base to tip) on a location currently occupied by a social housing block which was built in 1974.

But twelve of the 250 flats in the Damiers block are still occupied, according to the landlord, holding up construction in a battle pitting them against developer Emin Iskenderov and his €2.8-billion (US$3.3 billion) project.

Resident Tatiana Dinulescu on the balcony of her flat at the Damiers Estate. Photo: AFP