This time, it's almost certain: Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo is coming to Paris. However, 'CR7' will not be replacing Lionel Messi or Kylian Mbappe in PSG's attack. Rather than the accuracy of his heading or his eye for goal, it is his lifestyle hotels that Parisians will be able to appreciate. Like Lionel Messi and, more recently, Rafael Nadal, the Portuguese footballer has prepared for his sporting retirement by teaming up with Portuguese hotelier Pestana to develop a chain based on his aura, called Pestana CR7.
Following its launch in Funchal in 2016 - a logical destination given that CR7 and Dionisio Pestana, the group's founder, were both born on the island of Madeira - the brand Pestana CR7 has since appeared in Lisbon, Marrakech and New York, as well as, another obvious choice, in Madrid. The same place where the striker made Real fans dream for so many years.
Gran Via in the Spanish capital, the bright lights of Times Square, the Praça do Comércio in Lisbon: the locations chosen to set up these top-of-the-range, contemporary establishments are still top-notch. And the same will be true in Paris in 2027, when the sixth Pestana CR7 will be ready to welcome its first customers, who will no doubt include many business travellers.
In fact, the future facility will be virtually linked to the Gare d'AusterlitzThe Austerlitz A7A8 development, which has just started construction, will eventually include a new business centre. Called Austerlitz A7A8, the project, which has just started construction, will eventually include a office campus - These include the new headquarters of the Agence Française du Développement, as well as shops, a student residence, an Emmaus community centre, 2,000 bicycle parking spaces and a public car park.
Developed by Kaufman & Broad, this new business district has put time to see the light of day. The opening of the Pestana CR7 had already been announced. from 2018 with opening planned for 2021. Submitted in May 2019, the building permit was approved after a public enquiry by the Ile-de-France prefecture at the end of 2020, before being challenged by several elected representatives of the city of Paris and the Austerlitz collective, notably before the Conseil d'Etat.
The sleep of Austerlitz
From one delay to the next, from one change to the next, the building complex that will run along the Seine between the Pitié Salpêtrière hospital and the station serving it is only just beginning to get off the ground. " We are particularly pleased to be taking part in the renewal of the Austerlitz district and to be working with the Pestana Group on their first hotel in the area, a project of the highest architectural, energy and environmental quality." said Nordine Hachemi, Chairman and CEO of Kaufman & Broad. In addition to being surrounded by 22,000 square metres of green spacesThe building itself will be certified NF HQE bâtiments Tertiaires, level Excellent, thanks in particular to a 3,400 m² photovoltaic farm and a grey water heat recovery system.
As for the four-star hotel, the Pestana CR7 Paris will house 210 rooms and will be crowned, on the tenth floor, with a landscaped rooftop with swimming pool, bar and 180° views over Paris. An opening as seen by José RoquetteGeneral Development Director of Pestana Hotels, as "an important step for this group, which was born 50 years ago". With almost 110 establishments today, the Portuguese group does not intend to limit itself to this first project in France.
