The rehabilitation of the Montparnasse tower is on the agenda for the next Paris Council meeting.

The renovation project for the 210-meter-high office tower, for which a building permit was approved by the Paris City Hall in 2019, is intended to transform the building into a glass tower, housing a hotel, shops and services, and topped with an agricultural greenhouse.

According to a draft resolution to be studied between December 16 and 19 by the Paris Council, an amended building permit was filed on November 21 and provides for "less extensive" work than initially planned, with "less demolition, a reduced surface area and a total height of the tower lowered by 12 meters".

In addition to the Montparnasse tower, there are also plans to rehabilitate the shopping center located at the foot of the building, for which an agreement must be validated by the Council of Paris, the "CIT" office building, the streets located around this block and to "massively green" the entire area.

For Philippe Goujon, the LR mayor of the 15th arrondissement, this is "one of the most important urban planning operations in Paris", on which the city hall has been working for ten years.

The project for this new Montparnasse tower has been on the table since 2015 and was supposed to be completed in 2024 for the Paris Olympic Games, but work has still not started, delayed in part because of appeals.

The timetable should, however, accelerate next year: in a letter dated November 14, seen by AFP, the prefectures of Ile-de-France and Paris informed the condominium association of the tower that "the rapid closure of the building to the public is necessary, at the latest by the beginning of 2026".

Tests have shown that "untimely activation of the fire safety system disperses asbestos dust into the air" and that "recurring malfunctions" lead to "uncontrolled triggering of the fire safety system," it is added in this letter, revealed by the media CFNews Immo.

"These operating conditions do not allow the occupants of the tower to be protected from the risk of exposure to asbestos," the authorities note.

Departure date not yet set

Neither the condominium association of the Tour Maine Montparnasse real estate complex (EITMM), nor the prefectures responded to requests from AFP.

According to Philippe Goujon, the work was already scheduled to begin in June, so everyone was supposed to leave before then. He indicated that the building's closure "accelerates the evacuation schedule for the remaining occupants."

Two co-owners told AFP that they had been informed by the building manager that their departure from the tower block before the renovations would likely be brought forward, without any mention of an asbestos problem. According to them, the date of their departure has not yet been set.

Asbestos removal work had already been carried out in the past and had made it possible to remove the carcinogenic fiber from 90% of the building, explained the former president of the condominium association in 2017, at the time of the presentation of a renovation project for the tower.

According to him, the 10% of the tower where asbestos remains are inaccessible parts such as the facade joints.

The Montparnasse tower has experienced several episodes of asbestos pollution, including a series of exceedances of the thresholds in 2013, which led companies to evacuate their employees present in the offices as a precaution.

The building, the tallest Parisian structure after the Eiffel Tower, was inaugurated in 1973.

The Montparnasse Tower is owned by several investors, the largest of which is LFPI (La Financière Patrimoniale d'Investissement). The company Séché Environnement, the insurer Axa, the mutual insurance company MGEN, and the businessman Xavier Niel and the Decaux family are also among the co-owners.