After the Joan of Arc affair, the Vauban car park affair? The prefecture rejects another contract for the Parcs d'Azur management company in Nice

After Joan of Arc, the Vauban parking lot affair? The matter is now pending before the courts. The Alpes-Maritimes prefecture has once again referred the matter to the administrative courts.

As she had already done for the monumental statue that adorns the Joan of Arc parking lot. Commissioned "without publicity or competition" despite its cost: 170,000 euros.

This time, a contract worth more than €7.5 million is in the government's sights. A massive budget encompassing the entire structural work of another car park.

The one that is to be built on the hollow tooth which, for years, has faced the Vauban sports park, just behind the Auvare police station.

At 7, rue du Maréchal-Vauban, the metropolitan authority Parcs d'Azur was to deliver, by 2026, more than 500 multi-storey parking spaces, including around a hundred equipped with electric terminals, a bicycle area with 110 additional spaces, all enhanced by a new green space of 4,000m² and 1,800m² of photovoltaic panels.

Construction site at a standstill

A project that "is fully in line with the 21st century," stressed the president of the Metropolis and mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi. Although construction work on this future facility had barely begun, it was interrupted.

This has not escaped Jean-Claude. He has lived for "forty years" "at the level of the old Place de Tende, renamed José-Balarello" .

"The construction site has been at a standstill for three weeks. There are no more workers," laments this local resident, who is especially concerned about the cost of immobilizing certain machines that are still parked there. In particular, "a huge crane" whose boom extends beyond "the eight-story building" opposite his own.

"It was used to drive piles at least 40 centimetres in diameter into the ground. Renting it must be worth some money," worries Jean-Claude, who tried to get to the bottom of the story by calling the Parcs d'Azur management company.

"Substantial illegalities"

"I came across a guy who told me there was a problem with the market," says this local resident with a good nose.

"As part of the legality check carried out by the prefecture services, substantial illegalities were detected in the public works contract awarded by the Parcs d'Azur management company for the structural works lot for the construction of the Vauban car park in Nice," the State services confirmed.

A contract worth 7,580,000 euros, awarded on April ¹ by the Parcs d'Azur management company to a consortium led by the construction company Fayat.

This time, there was indeed a competitive tender, unlike the contract for the construction and design of the statue of Jean d'Arc. However, government services considered that the rules of public procurement had not been strictly observed.

To the point that the new prefect, Laurent Hottiaux, like his predecessor Hugues Moutouh, has decided to refer this contract to the administrative courts. A request "accompanied by a request for suspension" , state services specify.

Court seized and contract terminated

This procedure resulted in a hearing on May 26. Without waiting for the "axe" to fall, the Parcs d'Azur management clearly took the lead by proceeding "to stop the work and terminate the contract" in question.

The court should therefore not have to rule on the validity of a contract that no longer exists. The question is whether this about-face by the metropolitan authority can give rise to a claim for compensation from the companies that had been chosen. And whether the delivery of this new equipment will be delayed.

When contacted, the Metropolis had not provided a response as of Thursday evening.