Monaco wants to expand, this time into the sea
Monaco - The Principality of Monaco is tight on its two square kilometers. Therefore, it wants to expand by six hectares, towards the sea. It plans to build luxury apartments to attract wealthy international clientele. However, it wants to preserve the nearby marine reserve. The small state recently announced a public competition for the project of territorial expansion, the first phase of which will be the construction of a huge underwater platform worth one billion euros. Everything is to be completed by 2024.
On the map of the Monacan coast, the government has already designated an area where a new district could arise, neighboring the Grimaldi Forum convention and cultural center. However, Prince Albert II has committed to keeping the marine environment untouched.
Just twenty meters to the right of the future district, however, begins the Larvotto marine reserve, which is the pride of the principality. It conceals a very rich biodiversity and is home to many seagrasses, the genus Posidonia, or the scallop species Pinna nobilis, says government advisor for ecology Marie-Pierre Gramagliová. And only forty meters to the left lie underwater caves, where corals that need oxygen live, she adds.
Between these two protected worlds, a new district with six to ten-story buildings featuring luxury apartments, underwater parking lots, shops, offices, and docks is set to rise within ten years. There will be a total of 60,000 square meters of sellable space.
The constructor that wins the tender will have to build a sort of pedestal at a depth of twenty meters that can support all these buildings. In exchange for this enormous investment, the winning company will have the right to build there, although it will have to transfer some developed and undeveloped areas to the state. The constructor will then have a year to negotiate the details of the entire project with the Monacan state.
In 2008, the principality had to abandon a plan to expand its territory into the sea, which was twice as extensive as the current one. The main reason was the economic crisis, but also the proximity of the marine reserve.
At that time, two groups ultimately competed for the construction. On one side was Daniel Libeskind, the designer of the reconstruction project for the site where the New York "twin towers" stood, destroyed in 2001. Alongside him competed the Dutch constructor Van Oord-Dragados and the Belgian company BESIX. On the other side was British architect Norman Foster, the Italian company Saipem, and the French Bouygues. Monaco shareholder Michel Pastor was also in the competition.
According to the head of the Monacan government, Michel Roger, the initiation of the new project is now possible because Monaco has already emerged from the crisis. "We have returned to healthy foundations," he says. According to him, the project is "an optimistic act toward the economic future of the country."
The Principality of Monaco estimates that for its development, it will need an additional 350,000 square meters every ten years. In the 1960s, a commercial and residential district known as Fontvieille was already built on 22 hectares in the west of the principality.
In Monaco, there is practically no undeveloped area left, and old buildings are being demolished to make way for taller buildings, as is the case today with the Odeon Tower. It will rise to a height of 170 meters and have 49 floors. Apartments here should be available at an average of 50,000 euros (1.25 million CZK) per square meter, while elsewhere in Monaco, one square meter can be purchased on average for 30,000 euros (750,000 CZK).
On the map of the Monacan coast, the government has already designated an area where a new district could arise, neighboring the Grimaldi Forum convention and cultural center. However, Prince Albert II has committed to keeping the marine environment untouched.
Just twenty meters to the right of the future district, however, begins the Larvotto marine reserve, which is the pride of the principality. It conceals a very rich biodiversity and is home to many seagrasses, the genus Posidonia, or the scallop species Pinna nobilis, says government advisor for ecology Marie-Pierre Gramagliová. And only forty meters to the left lie underwater caves, where corals that need oxygen live, she adds.
Between these two protected worlds, a new district with six to ten-story buildings featuring luxury apartments, underwater parking lots, shops, offices, and docks is set to rise within ten years. There will be a total of 60,000 square meters of sellable space.
The constructor that wins the tender will have to build a sort of pedestal at a depth of twenty meters that can support all these buildings. In exchange for this enormous investment, the winning company will have the right to build there, although it will have to transfer some developed and undeveloped areas to the state. The constructor will then have a year to negotiate the details of the entire project with the Monacan state.
In 2008, the principality had to abandon a plan to expand its territory into the sea, which was twice as extensive as the current one. The main reason was the economic crisis, but also the proximity of the marine reserve.
At that time, two groups ultimately competed for the construction. On one side was Daniel Libeskind, the designer of the reconstruction project for the site where the New York "twin towers" stood, destroyed in 2001. Alongside him competed the Dutch constructor Van Oord-Dragados and the Belgian company BESIX. On the other side was British architect Norman Foster, the Italian company Saipem, and the French Bouygues. Monaco shareholder Michel Pastor was also in the competition.
According to the head of the Monacan government, Michel Roger, the initiation of the new project is now possible because Monaco has already emerged from the crisis. "We have returned to healthy foundations," he says. According to him, the project is "an optimistic act toward the economic future of the country."
The Principality of Monaco estimates that for its development, it will need an additional 350,000 square meters every ten years. In the 1960s, a commercial and residential district known as Fontvieille was already built on 22 hectares in the west of the principality.
In Monaco, there is practically no undeveloped area left, and old buildings are being demolished to make way for taller buildings, as is the case today with the Odeon Tower. It will rise to a height of 170 meters and have 49 floors. Apartments here should be available at an average of 50,000 euros (1.25 million CZK) per square meter, while elsewhere in Monaco, one square meter can be purchased on average for 30,000 euros (750,000 CZK).
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