On February 9, 2023, Anne Hidalgo, then mayor (PS) of Paris, issued a building permit to the Caisse régionale Crédit Mutuel Île-de-France in order to renovate a seven-story Art Deco style building located at 18 rue Catherine-de-la-Rochefoucauld (9th arrondissement) in an environment marked by the suburban style. However, the company Midi Minuit Holding – led by Georges Bermann, a film producer and director who gained recognition in 2004 with the release of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” – has taken legal action in the administrative court of Paris to have the building permit annulled. Their company is actually the owner of the building located right next to the Crédit Mutuel building at 16 rue Catherine-de-la-Rochefoucauld: they are therefore “immediate neighbors” of the project.
An external spiral staircase
Crédit Mutuel, on its part, considered the legal action “abusive”. However, as the project involves “the reconfiguration of the roof and the creation of an external terrace”, it is “liable, due to the noise disturbances it could cause, to directly affect the conditions of occupation, use, or enjoyment of the property” owned by Midi Minuit Holding, as confirmed by the court in a judgment dated February 2, 2026, which has just been made public.
The project – located near the Gustave Moreau Museum and the Hôtel de Mademoiselle Duchesnois – plans to maintain “the original style of the building” and does not include “any substantial modification to the appearance of the facades”, specify the administrative judges. The Architect of Historic Monuments had also expressed a “favorable” opinion on this project.
No argument accepted by the judges
The terrace planned on the 6th floor, however, will be created “by implementing a wood imitation decking that will, in line with existing terraces, ensure the aesthetic rendering of the whole and the installation of new glass guardrails and planters arranged in a way to ensure a light insertion of the project without overburdening the volume of the building”, adds the administrative court of Paris.
While the existing construction is also not “compliant” with the provisions concerning rainwater drainage, the proposed works do not “remedy the observed non-compliance”. However, they must “reduce the annual flow of rainwater discharged into the sanitation network from 306m3 to 302m3”, the court indicates.
Ultimately, none of the arguments put forward by the requesting company caught the attention of the judges who dismissed Midi Minuit Holding’s claim: they will also have to pay €3,000 to Crédit Mutuel to cover their legal costs.
/CB and MJ (PressPepper)
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