With an ultra-green hotel in Grand Arénas, a glass-covered car park at Nice Méridia and the « Cote 121 » program in Sophia Antipolis, the Cote d’Azur presented the face of a region in full recovery to property investors at the SIMI trade show in Paris.
The Côte d’Azur out in force at SIMI 2014
On Friday 5 December, the thirteenth SIMI trade show closed its doors behind over 25,000 visitors. A show that had fulfilled all its promises and where the business property sector had clearly demonstrated its momentum. La Côte d’Azur was out in force at Paris to present its new projects. The evening before the opening of the trade show, Christian Estrosi, President of the Métropole Nice Cote d’Azur, welcomed business property operators to the newly opened Maison de la Métropole Nice Cote d’Azur in Paris. Over 80 potential major investors including representatives from Altarea Cogedim, Arthur Loyd Investissement, BNP Paribas, Carrefour, la Compagnie de Phalsbourg, IBM, Kaufman & Broad and Bouwfounds Marignan, responded to the invitation. The Métropole Nice Cote d’Azur, the Urban Development Agency Éco-Vallée Plaine du Var, the Sophia Antipolis Agglomeration Community and Team Cote d’Azur presented the opportunities available to property investors on the Cote d’Azur market, on a very popular Cote d’Azur stand.
Éco-Vallée in Nice: programmes setting an environmental example
The Métropole Nice Cote d’Azur and the Urban Development Agency Eco-Vallée Plaine du Var presented the projects currently being marketed in the new Grand Arénas international business district and the Nice Méridia urban technology park at the centre of the Éco-Vallée. Two projects have been approved:
- A green hotel at Grand Arénas At the trade show, the agreement to sell the land of sector 3.5 in the centre of Grand Arenas was signed with the energy company EDF and the property developer Nacarat. A first symbolic operation located near the Nice airport multi-modal transport hub, this concerns a combined development over 18,000m², the design of which has been assigned to the architect Dominique Perrault, who created the National Library of France and the Olympic swimming pool in Berlin. It comprises 8,000 m² of offices, a 4-star hotel aimed at business and tourism customers and several shops. The hotel, which offers 180 rooms, can produce its own heat using photovoltaic panels and heat pumps installed in the water tables. Due to the « Eco City » approach backed by the Métropole, the Urban Development Agency Éco-Vallée Plaine du Var is supported by the « City of the future » fund as part of the investments of the future designed to promote the creation of a high energy and environmental efficiency programme. EDF Optimal Solutions has been involved in the operation from the start, certified under BREEAM Excellence which will ensure that energy consumption is reduced by 25 to 45 % compared with energy efficiency standards. Delivery is scheduled for 2018.
- A glass-covered car park in Nice Méridia The agreement for a Parking facility, which was also signed, represents the 2nd key programme of the Nice Méridia urban technology park. The project, created and financed by the developer ARTEA, is a continuation of The Crown building, the 1st stone of which was laid last October and which is set to accommodate IBM and EDF next year. The car park will have 6 levels offering almost 450 parking spaces and will feature approximately 600 m² of premises for shops and services on the ground floor. On the roof, a large canopy of south-facing photovoltaic panels will supply the building’s energy needs as well as charging stations for electric vehicles in the car park. A metal structure, the lit and plant-covered façades are also a sign of the innovative design and strong environmental ambitions. Its delivery is scheduled for 2016.
Perspective parking silo, Avenue Simone Veil in Nice Méridia Photo Credit: Agence VBI
A genuine economic lever, the Eco-Vallée aims to offer a new development and urban planning model based on setting an environmental example. [>] Visit the website ecovallee-plaineduvar.fr and our page dedicated to Nice-ÉcoVallée.
Sophia Antipolis presents its ambitions and development plans
Jean Pierre Mascarelli, Vice-President of the Sophia Antipolis Agglomeration Community, made a presentation to investors about the « Sophia 2030 » development project and the construction planned under the « Cote 121 » programme in the areas of Trois Moulins in Antibes, the City of Knowledge and the Clausonnes in Valbonne and Saint-Philippe in Biot, which represents a buildable surface area of over 500,000 m2 by 2020.
