Les nouveaux défis de la promotion
The year 2050 is less than 30 years away. This shows the magnitude of the challenge posed to developers, authorities and building professionals. For public and private actors, regulatory constraints, rising land prices and financing difficulties are already causing headaches. But if, in addition, you can no longer count on free and welcoming land areas, that's squaring the circle. Of course, “building the city in the city” then seems like a common sense solution: to elevate, densify, demolish and rebuild, what a beautiful program! However, that means counting without the administrative complexity, the remedies of the neighborhood, the logistical surprises of a congested urban fabric...
Let's be concrete: if the first official objective is to halve the artificialization of soils in France in ten years, it is time to use the only proven method: urban recycling. As recently pointed out by theRegional observatory for commercial real estate in Île-de-France (ORIE), the vacancy level there rose from 2.5 to 4 million m 2 in a short time. If we want to create housing, the solution is there: recycle unused areas, because they are unusable, and exploit this important building resource without artificializing a single square meter of floor space.
Le portage immobilier, une réponse à l’obsolescence des bâtiments
Sometimes, in the heart of major cities or in their immediate surroundings, buildings remain that are unsuited to current and future energy saving requirements, but also to the new ways of working induced by the pandemic. Other buildings are so damaged or so uncomfortable in use that no one would think of occupying them as they are. Finally, industrial, commercial or administrative brownfields await a hypothetical buyer. If necessary, he would begin a genuine Way of the Cross to overcome the administrative, technical and financial obstacles that would inevitably stand in his way.
The State is already setting up real estate portage structures, but the latter is also being carried out with private actors! Portage consists in the acquisition of assets on behalf of a third party, to whom they will be returned in accordance with conditions fixed in advance. In this case, real estate portage makes it possible to purchase property with suspensive conditions reduced to the strict legal minimum. With the support of investors who are aware that the obsolescence of many buildings constitutes a source of value and a way of responding to the housing shortage, the promoter thus offers developers the possibility of carrying out their projects while bearing the risk. This is the whole point of co-promotion, which makes recycling possible by optimizing capital. Net zero artificialization clearly favors the development of such operations, showing private actors and public authorities part of the answer to the housing shortage. Numerous success stories already exist. The 30% construction bonus for public order will allow this recycling to be accelerated.
S’associer pour créer du logement
For this, it is essential that all stakeholders — manufacturers, financiers, public authorities, elected officials — cooperate in order to align the interests of all. Urban recycling is one of the methods of creating the homes that our citizens and cities need. It also makes it possible to relaunch construction while respecting environmental responsibilities — in particular biodiversity —, to create and preserve jobs, and to beautify the living environment of inhabitants. There are already numerous examples of success: often, as recently in Nanterre, the transformation of an administrative building has saved some 60% of CO 2 compared to demolition and reconstruction. To successfully carry out large-scale projects, we need to work together to imagine innovative financing methods, for example using citizen savings. France has experienced builders and promoters who only want to put their skills into action to do their job: build or transform. And in particular to create these homes that France lacks.
Inequalities — social, territorial, generational — are increased by the steady rise in housing prices in tense areas and the various public policies implemented to reduce these divides have not succeeded, let us have the courage to recognize this. In big cities, and particularly in Paris, the middle classes are struggling to find housing, while the image of a two-tier society is intensifying, with increasing differences between the well-housed and the poorly housed. Especially since this hides intergenerational disparities: young working people are finding it increasingly difficult to buy a home. The need to create housing is therefore no longer a sectoral problem, but a national priority.
Mayors and other local elected officials, like the government, are globally committed to the fight against climate change, and more specifically against urban sprawl, which generates increased travel and infrastructure spending. It is urgent that public authorities and all market players join forces to seize the opportunity of urban recycling.
Appointed at the beginning of the year president of Novaxia Investment, Mathieu Desscout began his career as a development manager at Les Nouveaux Constructeurs, Nexity Seeri and France Habitation, then as Deputy Director of Development at Bécarré. After joining the Novaxia group in 2014, he became Director of Development, was then promoted to CEO of Novaxia Development, then CEO, and finally President of Novaxia Investment.
The current president ofInterconstruction, also president of the Federation of real estate developers of Île-de-France got his start at Sofal Financial. In 1986, Marc Villand joined Seeri where he rose through the ranks, going from program manager to director in charge of planning. He then joined IED as director, then Nexity, where he was appointed Deputy CEO and then CEO. He left the company in 2002 to join the Interconstruction group.
Article taken from number 181 of Business Immo Global.
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