Lyon: investigation opened for "favoritism" in the urban renewal of the business district

Europe 1 with AFP 16:42 p.m., September 30, 2023

The Lyon prosecutor's office has opened an investigation for "favoritism" following the latest report of the regional chamber of accounts (CRC), pointing to a "lack of transparency" of the Metropolis in the choice in 2016 of the Vinci group for a site related to the renovation of the Part-Dieu district. "The investigation, entrusted to the zonal direction of judicial police (DZPJ), is ongoing," said the prosecutor of Lyon, questioned by AFP. In a report made public on September 25, the CRC looks into agreements made in 2016 between the construction giant and the Metropolis of Lyon, then chaired by Gérard Collomb, via its SPL (local public company) Lyon Part-Dieu.

The body was particularly interested in the development of the "To-Lyon" tower, a vast public-private real estate project including, in addition to the tower to be delivered by Vinci at the end of 2023, car parks and the restructuring of the forecourt of the district station. The CRC is surprised to see Vinci, through its subsidiary SCCV To-Lyon, also responsible for the construction of the Place Béraudier car park, opposite the station and where a low-level square of several levels is due to be built in 2025. She notes that the company's choice "lacked transparency in a very competitive sector".

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Second business district of France

The Chamber also considers "that the sale of the lower place, (...) was carried out under legally questionable conditions, the work having been designed by the public authority and for the satisfaction of its needs". If the CRC acknowledges that the "To-Lyon" operation was based on a co-construction with a private investor, it also stresses that "it is no less questionable since part of the works is intended to be useful to the community".

The second business district of France, Part-Dieu, located in the 3rd arrondissement of Lyon, is currently the scene of a dozen projects to make its concrete spaces in greener areas by 2029. Contacted by AFP, the Metropolis of Lyon, chaired since 2020 by the ecologist Bruno Bernard, did not wish to comment. Gérard Collomb, 76, socialist mayor of Lyon from 2001 to 2017 then LREM from 2018 to 2020, had led the public authority from 2015 to 2017. He had supported Emmanuel Macron during the 2017 presidential election and then served as Minister of the Interior for a year (2017-2018).