Nice, six districts undergoing radical transformation where you should buy before the end of the year.
What with the renovation of the Pasteur district and Thiers train station area and the creation of a green zone, dozens of big constructions sites are shaking up the city’s appearance. Here is guided tour of the best places to invest in 2011:
Nice Meridia, urgent, new accommodation to grab before the district becomes expensive.
1. From 2 900 Euros per new square meter. Don’t worry about the forbidding aspect of the area: By 2013, wasteland will be transformed into a new district covering 76.60 acres, including all modern conveniences. Accommodation, schools, shops, green spaces, banks; everything will be there to welcome families, even the tram, which in 2016 will connect to the airport in 15 minutes. Behind the Boulevard Paul-Montel, the first residence, Arbora, is being built and will comprise 3 small buildings (69 apartments in total). Price per square meter: between 2 900 and 3 100 Euros. An excellent deal compared to the rates of the neighbourhood which are 20% higher. For that matter, professionals are adamant: the square meter in Nice Meridia will cost around 3 500 Euros before the end of 2011.
2. Haut Gambetta, buy before the end of the restoration works to the Thiers train station.
From 2 400 Euros per square meter. We can bet that the coast of this area will soon follow that of its neighbour located to the south of the railway tracks, where the square meter costs between 1 000 to 1 500 Euros more. Why? Because of the restoration of Thiers train station, very close by, and of the surrounding area which will benefit from a 98 million Euro housing renovation plan. By 2013, the rail network will be transformed and the fronts of old buildings (Niçois or Art deco) will be renovated. Around the Boulevard Gambetta, you can still find accommodation in good condition for 2 500 Euros per square meter, like this apartment composed of 4 rooms (85sqm) with mouldings and bow-window, sold for 220 000 Euros. For luxury and calm, you should focus on Gay and St Joseph avenues. “The square meter is sold for less than 3 800 Euros but not for long”, warns the real estate agent Zahra Marchal.
3. Liberation, old buildings will benefit from the redevelopment of the site of the gare du Sud.
From 2 600 Euros per square meter to refurbish. Tram, convenience stores, small fruit and vegetable markets… The district located to the North of Jean-Medecin Avenue already offered a pleasant living environment and plenty of great places. “In 2014, the area will be totally transformed”, explains Alain Philip, responsible for city planning in Nice. On the menu for the redevelopment of the site of the gare dub Sud: 3 500 square meters of shops, restaurants, a film library , a multiplex cinema, a sports centre, a covered market, and 700 underground parking places. Everything you need to attract wealthy clients and raise prices by 20% to 25% over the next two or three years. For a typical apartment in Nice, often to refurbish, you have to count between 2 600 Euros and 2 800 Euros per square meter, and up to 3 200 Euros in the smartest buildings or recent residences of the Evêché area.
4. Northern Nice, rise foreseen with the end of noise pollution around the Ray stadium.
From 2 500 Euros per square meter for old properties. No more, the hordes of supporters and road closures the evenings of football matches. In two years the Ray stadium is to be replaced by shops and crèches (the new stadium, delivered in June 2013, will be nestled in the green valley of the plain of the Var). There’s no doubt that in this district with its mixed housing, where buildings built after the war, town houses and Belle Époque residences sit side by side, property prices will rise. Of course, the luxury square meter already costs 3 500 Euros, and exceeds 4 000 Euros near the Chambrun park. But in buildings without any specific style typical of the 60’s and 70’s, the square meter is more affordable: “the price can quickly go under the 2 800 Euro mark” assures Jean-Louis Tolosa, from Viazur Orpi. Place Alexandre-Medecin, a 113 sqm apartment that boasts a large terrace and which is in good condition, has just been sold for 315 000 Euros
5. Pasteur, new places with low prices in a popular district undergoing radical transformation.
From 2600 Euros per square meter. Thanks to the 35 million Euros put into renovation works, the bad reputation of this district will soon be an old memory. Most high-rise blocks of council flats in the Residence Pasteur have given way to beautiful buildings of 3 or 4 floors; bicycle paths and greenery have also been created along the Paillon… It’s the perfect moment to invest because with the arrival of the tram line 1, forecast for 2013, and the modernization of the Pasteur II hospital, the coast will soon rise by 15%. The apartments in semi recent residences (built from 1970-1980) are negotiated at around 2 500 Euros per square meter, garage included. But, it is in the new build that you’ll find the best deals: On Rue J-Montolivo, a 35 sqm apartment with balcony was sold for 2 700 Euros per square meter.
6. La Coulee verte, a park of 12 hectares (29.65 acres) will boost the coast of this already popular district.
From 4 300 Euros per square meter in old buildings. The scheme is grandiose: a 12 hectare park with ponds, stretching through the heart of the city, from the national theatre to the garden Albert-1st, including the Massena area, embellished for the occasion. The works started in January, and will be finished at the end of 2013. By then we are in for an explosion of prices. It will better to avoid the areas directly around this green space, like the Avenue Verdun, where the 6 000 Euro per square meter price barrier has already reached. On the other hand, between the beginning of the Boulevard Jean- Jaures and the end of the Avenue Saint- Jean- Baptiste, it is still possible to move in for less than 4 500 Euros per square meter. “The train station and parking spaces opposite are going to be destroyed, so the prices here will rise by 25%”, estimates Benjamin Mondou, from Century 21 Lafage.