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Hammerson Buys Les Terrasses Du Port, Marseille  Wall Street Journal 21 Dec 09 Hammerson PLC said Monday that it has acquired Les Terrasses du Port, Marseille, a shopping center developments anticipated in France in the next few years. The vendor is Foruminvest, a private developer based in Holland. The initial capital commitment, including acquisition costs, is expected to be EUR50 million in the first six months. The 52,000 meter square centre will provide 150 stores, 2,850 car parking spaces and a 260 meter-wide restaurant terrace overlooking the sea. Dow Jones Newswires.

Halabi forced to count cost of UK downturn  FT.com 18 Dec 09 Mr Halabi, who lives between Switzerland, the south of France and London, is a figure of mystery to many in the property industry, rarely attending industry events or talking to the press, and choosing to work with only a handful of trusted advisers. He was still estimated by Forbes this year to have had a fortune of $2.8bn and has the trappings of a modern property mogul, including a vineyard and chateau in France, a yacht moored at Portofino in Italy and an office full of antique furniture in London’s Mayfair. Parts of the Halabi business outside UK property include the Château Cantenac Brown vineyard in France, where there are plans to create a luxury hotel. Daniel Thomas.

Renovation Project for Nice Côte d'Azur Old Town Centres Web Time Medias 09 Dec 09 40 town centre renovation projects on the Côte d'Azur will be selected as part of a national project to renew rundown urban centres (PNRQAD). €380 millions will be invested over 3 years to subsidise renovations of private housing and public buildings and spaces. The aim is to stimulate €1.5 billion of works with the first projects starting at the beginning of 2010. Derelict buildings and environmentally friendly projects will be given priority. Already benefitting from the funds are projects in Nice Old Town and Nice Ariane (€9.7 million); Nice Pasteur (€2.8 million); Nice Moulins (€54.9 million) and Grasse (€16.3 million.) Jean-Pierre Largilet.

Tax Refugees Stoke Offshore Property Prices  Mondaq.com 30 Nov 09 our survey found that most offshore tax jurisdictions within easy reach of the UK are bucking the European property market slump as UK taxpayers exit. Property values in Monaco and Gibraltar are holding firm or increasing while prices around them on the Cote d'Azur and the Costa del Sol have plunged by up to 50 per cent. Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Geneva are also enjoying trend-bucking strength in their housing markets. In Monaco (which, significantly, now boasts 100 per cent broadband coverage), reports indicate that property prices have risen by as much as 30 per cent – the same amount that even the most optimistic observer would acknowledge they have fallen in neighbouring Provence. One leading estate agent said recently that Monaco's "tax haven status ensures the market remains buoyant and prices stable so investment in Monaco property continues to be attractive." Howard Bilton.

Prime Property Prices Begin to Stir London, Switzerland, Monaco and the South of France are Sparking to Life Wall Street Journal 27 Nov 09 After sharp falls during the credit crisis, prime residential property prices in Europe are beginning to regain their poise, fueled by investor appetite for direct investment opportunities, cheap money and exchange-rate advantages. London is leading the charge, but residential property in Switzerland, Monaco and the South of France is also sparking to life. The downturn hit prime property -- those valued at €2 million and above -- hard. Monaco and South of France property was off 20%. Tara Loader Wilkinson.

Charles Trenet Juan-les-Pin villa sold at auction  Nice Matin 26 Nov 09 The well known 'Bateau' villa of French singing legend Charles Trenet, located on the heights of Juans-les-Pins, will be sold at auction at 9am this morning at the Grasse tribunal. Charles Trenet who was very fond of his villa, left it along with other properties to Georges his faithful secretary and final confident. When the singer died in February 2001 at the age of 87, Georges faced inheritance taxes and decided to sell a part of his inheritance. He aslo accumulated debts and was constrained to liquidate the rest of his inheritance to settle these debts. SJ.

House Hunting in ... Provence, France  New York Times 13 Oct 09 The market has suffered some bumps over the past year, according to Tim Swannie, managing director of the real estate company Home Hunts, based in the South of France. In the French Riviera and in Provence, Mr. Swannie estimates that prices have dropped 10 percent. Even before the recession, France’s lending requirements were tight — which prevented the country from experiencing a severe credit crunch, Mr. Swannie added. Paul Humphreys, head of the French desk at the international real estate firm Knight Frank, said St. Tropez had been less affected by the housing downturn than other parts of the Riviera. Virginia C. McGuire.

Take-off time for Brangelina  Daily Telegraph 02 Oct 09 Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are reportedly making offers on neighbouring properties, with a view to building an airport. Both have pilot licences, enabling them to fly their brood in and out of the 1,000-acre estate without being seen by paparazzi - or getting stuck in tiresome Côte d’Azur traffic jams. Anna Tyzack.

A French chateau for Pitt and Jolie - for 45 mn pounds!  IndiaEnews 24 Aug 09 Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are spending 45 million pounds transforming a French chateau into a dream home for themselves and their six children. The pair have completed the purchase of the 35 million pound 17th-century Chateau Miraval, set on a 1,000-acre estate in Provence and now they plan to splash out 10 million pounds more turning the pile into the 'love nest of all love nests'.

Six bedrooms and a pool for £500,000... suddenly it's a lot less dear in Provence  Daily Mail 08 Sep 09 Thanks to the recession and despite the alarming strength of the euro against the pound, it is still possible to buy a six-bedroom house with a swimming pool in Provence for less than £500,000 including all legal and land registration fees, which would usually add about seven per cent to the house price. Graham Lord.

French property prices holding steady  Investment International 20 Aug 09 Property prices in France are stable at present, a mortgage provider has stated. John Busby, Director of French property firm Athena Mortgages, remarked that a mixture of price rises and regional variations is giving “overall stability to the French market.”

France Real Estate Getting Back On Its Feet  NuWire Investor 19 Aug 09 The outlook for buying and selling property in a reinvigorated French real estate market continues to improve. With an improving economic environment, attractive interest and mortgage rates, and the addition of four new air routes from important UK locations to four cities in southwest France, investors have reasond to be optimistic.

Many Britons 'taking long-term view' of French property  Propertyshowrooms.com 18 Aug 09 Many British investors in French property are taking a long-term view of property values, it has been stated. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, expat Frederic Raphael stated that a number of Britons have been struggling with the additional costs of buying and living created by the weakness of the pound against the euro.

New Deal Allows U.S. Realtors to Help Sell French Real Estate  StreetInsider.com 05 Aug 09 In a first-of-its-kind deal underscoring the growth of the international real estate industry, the Federation Nationale de l'Immobilier (FNAIM), the French association of real estate professionals, has contracted with Immobel, the leading provider of international real estate technology and cross language marketing services, to translate all French real estate listings into English and make them available for U.S. Realtors(R) to market on their own websites.

MIPIM Horizons Unites with MIPIM  Euroinvestor.co.uk 03 Aug 09 Reed MIDEM announces that the second edition of MIPIM Horizons, the international property market dedicated to the world’s fast-growing regions, will take place March 16-19, 2010, in Cannes, at the same time as MIPIM, the world’s leading real estate market. The first edition of MIPIM Horizons was held from December 2-4, 2008, and welcomed over 1,200 property professionals from 62 countries. MIPIM 2009 attracted 18,000 delegates from 80 countries. Press Release.

Provence: A Place in the Sun  France Today 28 Jul 09 Never has there been a better time to househunt in the south of France. Price tags for properties in Provence have escalated sharply over the last two decades as demand has steadily grown for authentic stone villas set in idyllic countryside. Lyrical books about the region, and better transport links, led to an influx of foreign buyers, which naturally pushed prices up. But today’s fragile housing market is forcing vendors to look more objectively at the value of their homes, resulting in more reasonable asking prices. Suzanna Chambers.

Strange and Bizarre Structures  ABC News 26 Jun 09 A vacation to the French Riviera calls for a visit to the summer home of designer Pierre Cardin. Aptly named Palais Bulles, or "Palace of Bubbles," Cardin's home is located in the town of Théoule-sur-Mer, near Cannes. The home was designed in the mid-1970s by architect Antti Lovag, who built his first bubble house for Pierre Bernard in 1971. The building's curved walls and domed structures resemble the figure of a woman. Visit the Palais Bulles web-site here. The venue is available for hire as an event venue.

French property: time of cash in on the euro  Telegraph.co.uk 18 Jun 09 The strength of the euro against sterling is working in favour of British people selling up in France. Paul Humphries at Knight Frank says the market on the Cote d'Azur is remarkably dynamic. "There are French, Italians, Indians, Arabs, Russians and Scandinavians all interested in buying there, so it has been very robust in the face of La Crise, as it is called in France," he says. Caroline McGhie.

French and German property markets to feel full impact of global downturn  PropertyWeek.com  05 Jun 09 The investment market has also been guillotined. Savills reports that €450m (£396m) of transactions took place in the first quarter of this year, meaning 2009’s tally will be a long way off the €24.5bn (£21.6bn) recorded in 2006. Mark Shepherd / David Hatcher.

The French idyll: property in the inland villages of Provence  Times Online 15 May 09 The inland villages of Provence offer a quieter, more wholesome experience than the opulence of the French Riviera. British holidayers and expatriates have been coming here for years in search of the good life, snapping up the traditional “mas” farmhouses and filling them with Provençal pottery, local lavender and wine. Francesca Steele.

Severin Wunderman's House In The South Of France  Luxist 10 Apr 09 The estate of the late watch legend Severin Wunderman has put his French château and its contents up for sale for 18 million euros. He had purchased the 17th-century hunting lodge in La Colle sur Loup in the early 1990s and spent years restoring and decorating it. He died at the chateau last June. Deidre Woollard.

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