Warning, the scary bulk is indeed under construction, at taxpayer expense. Vincent went in the rain yesterday to report. There'll be some 5, maybe 6 cranes on site for that thing alone.
Specially designed to spur nimbyism even more in the world capital of NIMBYism. Sure the legions of local nimbys will take advantage of this one in the fight. I still hope I'll be proved wrong, but seriously, can you just imagine the effect of that massing on the surrounding mid-rise fabric of the 17th arrondissement? If you think your average Parisian will appreciate, you're quite optimistic at the very least.
That's even the only highrise under construction over entire metro Paris at the moment since the couple of new towers in la Défense is now completed, the still slow local office market not allowing any more office tower construction for now, and the most relevant and ambitious project, privately funded Hermitage is still blocked by legal procedures while except for the little redevelopment of the public space around, it wouldn't cost a dime to taxpayers.
Go figure.