000 square meters of new stores each year

The first building Crystal Europe, of the Belgian promoter Buelens, will be delivered next January, while Quartz Europe, reply, will be in June 2007. This operation of 20,000 square metres in total embodies the dynamic always very noticeable market of Lille offices, particularly in the Euralille business district. The law firm of Fidal already accepted 2,000 square metres in the first building. Other new surfaces are still available in the neighbourhood in the Central Europe azure program, directed by Palm Promotion and recently acquired by Monceau real estate. The available supply is expected to absorb the demand before the realization of an another large-scale operation in the new area of said Euralille "Hot River". The Caisse d'Epargne in Flanders there will realize his seat, while its current site in Roubaix of 13,000 square metres has be sold at the Edhec School of Lille at the end of two years of negotiations with Atisreal. A wide range of 16,000 square metres will be implemented in the vicinity in co-promotion Codic and Vinci. 2007 will be also marked by the transfer of the Regional Council, today dispersed throughout the city, to a new seat in Euralille. The event has been long awaited and operators are prepared. A large part of the liberated areas will be assigned to new functions, including housing. In the end, the tertiary impact will concern mainly the building Arcuriale, bordering the station Lille Flanders, including the 15,000 square metres will be made available, representing about 5 of the market for two years.

Once again, the 110,000 square metres of transactions have been crossed the last year. 2006 could be completed in fanfare over 130,000 square meters rented through a very active third quarter in the neuf. It is rare to record a level also important outside of the fourth quarter, traditionally the most important in volume. "The placing on the market of new programmes seems to have stimulated the demand for this type of product," notes André Bartoszak, responsible for the Observatory of the offices of the ICC Lille Métropole.

Leadership challenged

The "grands boulevards", linking Lille to Roubaix and Tourcoing, is always tonic while on a supply of more modest. Witness the Grand Cottignies to Wasquehal programme, and the first stone was laid on 20 November. The operation was designed by Palm Promotion and sold to the investor GE Capital. Eventually, it will include six buildings of 2,000 square metres. Villeneuve - of Ascq is also increasingly present, with the rise in power after a slow start the scientific Park of high pillar, the extension of the great University campus. Computer hot-line Tech-City is located there during the summer on 2,200 square metres of Park Plaza (Group Lazard) building, with already 400 employees, while Laser Contact retained in the same program 3,000 square meters to accommodate 500 employees as of 2007.

But number of operators are concerned about some form of leadership of the community-oriented, urban geographical choice of companies, which must go through approval committees to establish themselves in the parks of high pillar, Eurasanté and on the ZAC of the Union to the image. "It may wonder about the relevance of this mode of operation of the economic services of Lille Métropole, is moves Vincent Martin, Regional Director of Atisreal." "He must be careful that this does become not arbitrary to not disrupt economic activity." "The approval committees give advice, not decisions." Trying "to guide and accompany, not lead", said Pierre de Saintignon, right arm of Martine Aubry for economic development in the urban community.

In parallel, the economic health of the Northern metropolis doped the logistics sector: since three years, the transactions are between 90,000 and 180.000 square meters of new stores each year. The offer today reached 290.000 square metres, high volume justified by very large operations in the final phase of negotiations (including intermodal complex Delta 3, South of the Metropolis), the region being increasingly adopted by large groups for to locate national platforms, or even European.

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