Is the dream of social housing on the site of the former Tintoretto Tower really possible or will it turn into an urban mirage? At the moment, the 270 social housing project is stuck at the Ministry of Infrastructure. Negotiations with the Roman offices are still underway but time is running out and the delays make the success of the operation increasingly complicated.
Despite this, Councilor Michela Tiboni does not lose her optimism and reminds the urban planning commission that «the 42 million euros from the Pinqua will remain assigned to the municipality of Brescia until March 2026which is the deadline for carrying out the project, there are no intermediate checks regarding the achievement of steps for the realization of the intervention”.
Between the photograph of the existing and the final goal there is an ocean to cross. The budget councilor, Marco Garza, the one who is negotiating the remodulation with the ministry, admits: «We are evaluating a solution by detaching ourselves from Redo, we are trying to remodel the project on an area we own in Sanpolino. The timing is absolutely relevant, sharing is difficult but not impossible, however the timescales are very tight.” Since the road is still long, the Action council member hopes that «the answer will arrive from the ministry soon; it will be an enormous job that will call the Brescia system to a sense of responsibility. If the operation goes through, the city will have a significant number of housing units».
The center-right expresses strong doubts: «We only have 21 months available for an intervention that we don’t understand where it is and of what extent. Who would make it happen? A project would be needed which doesn’t exist today. Is this a concrete attempt or a desperate move?”. All questions left unanswered.
If the Loggia is working to save the 42 million of the Pinqua, it is forced to resign itself for the loss of the 18 million euros of the Indifferable Works Fund: «They failed because they were linked to the Tintoretto project» admits Tiboni. This loss and the enormous difficulty in saving Pinqua’s 42 million have a single cause: the failure to sign the new agreement with Redo during December. The cause of the disagreement between the Municipality and the owner of the site of the former tower is the application of the procurement code.
«Redo has always considered the intervention to be of a private nature and as such independent of the application of the procurement code. It is a public intervention with Pnrr funds therefore it requires a public procedure with which we cannot compromise. Our position has never changed with respect to this need” explains Garza. The minority indicates that the agreement would already be black and white, according to the agreement signed by Redo on 22 May 2022 and approved by the council on 2 November 2022: «Due to the nature of the Project approved within the PinQuA, the implementation of which is delegated to the private operator who owns the area affected by the Project, Redo will construct the new buildings of the Torre Tintoretto real estate complex and the related external arrangements, in continuity with the provisions of the Urban Planning Agreement stipulated with the Municipality at the same time as the acquisition on behalf of FIL1 of the ownership of the real estate complex following the award of a public tender, as well as in continuity with the provisions of the Proposal and the Agreement, thus also assuming the role of contracting authority” we read in the document.
The mayor’s staff explains that the cards have changed compared to that availability and that document was never signed in front of a notary. So, with the new agreement with Redo having failed and construction sites blocked, the centre-right is asking: “Why doesn’t the municipality enforce the guarantee for the failure to start the works?”. The minority appeals to the president of the commission, Fabio Capra, to also invite Redo to the next session. Application accepted.
