Massy - Place du Grand Ouest

Altarea Cogedim, the City of Massy, Crédit Agricole assurances and Paris sud Amenagement inaugurate the first mixed-use district of the future Great Paris

Altarea Cogedim, the City of Massy, Crédit Agricole assurances and Paris sud Amenagement are pleased to announce today's inauguration of the Place du Grand Ouest. This four-hectare urban hub, located next to the stations in the vast mixed-use district of Massy-Atlantis, has been welcoming its first occupants for several weeks, barely two and a half years after ground was broken. It showcases a major architectural achievement for what was the largest project of the Paris Region, in the very centre of the Southern Capital of Greater Paris.

The birth of the 1st mixed-use district of Greater Paris

A central hub of urban intensity, the Place du Grand Ouest offers a taste of the city of the future: the promise of an urban and functional mixed-use district that offers its residents living environments where they can relax, work and socialise..

"For more than 20 years we have been investing in cities in order to guide them in their transformations so they can accommodate the new behaviours and needs of their residents. Because we have a developed idea about cities and are attuned to the profound changes communities are experiencing, we are confident that our multi–business line expertise can be the driver that helps to provide better living to residents. Massy Place du Grand Ouest is a sample of our full range of expertise. This complex of outstanding architectural quality was achieved in one single tranche. It is the 1st mixed-use district of Greater Paris to be completed. This operation demonstrates our commitment to combining sustainability and innovation to confront challenges and drive progress for cities and the people who live in them", said Alain Taravella, Chairman and Founder of ALTAREA COGEDIM.

AN URBAN AND ARCHITECTURAL ACHIEVEMENT

To conquer the challenge of constructing a site that epitomises Greater Paris, the partners chose a remarkable urban and architectural quality.

Dreamed up by Elizabeth and Christian de Portzamparc, the district showcases the street and the public square. Place du Grand Ouest is made up of innovative buildings whose urban structure and architectural composition encourage activity and interaction. The facilities, combined with outstanding accessibility and exemplary craftsmanship, will ensure that Place du Grand Ouest makes a positive impact on the Southern Paris Region.

"Massy is the site of one of the most dynamic developments of the city, and thanks to its train station, it's one of the three major gateways to the city in progress. Every day, thousands of residents of the Paris Region arrive at and depart from this vital crossroads in the network of road and railway connections to Paris, the Paris Region and France. All the life of the centre of a very large city converges and will converge around the train station and future Place du Grand Ouest", said architect Christian de Portzamparc.

“We have created a variety of settings and spaces, from the most intimate to the most open. This urban circuit, weaving links between spaces, is the backbone of local social life and is fundamental for inhabitants and visitors alike to take possession of the space, thus creating a lively dynamic”, said architect Elizabeth de Portzamparc.

The high quality of the public spaces designed by Michel Pena provides places for circulating and socialising as well as living space around the large central square, which has both hard landscaping for events and soft landscaping to provide shade for the restaurant outdoor seating areas

A NEW LIFE IN THE CITY

Place du Grand Ouest is a place for residents looking for a quality lifestyle that combines practicality, social connections and easy access to transport, shops, restaurants, services and leisure. The district also fulfils the wish of businesses to have functional convention and exhibition spaces.  

Working, relaxing, shopping, enjoying family time, dining out: Place du Grand Ouest is a place that gives people what they want when they want it. Brick-and-mortar retail, services and restaurants come together in an unbroken line of shop windows and patios that open onto the ground-level public space along the new shopping street Florence Arthaud and onto the square. The Convention Centre, multiplex cinema and restaurants round out the public spaces that are welcoming and lively both during the day and at night, during the week and at weekends.

AN INNOVATIVE, CONNECTED DISTRICT

To make it easier for residents to enter and adjust to these new urban projects, ALTAREA COGEDIM is providing the residents and users of the Place du Grand Ouest with a digital application called "EASY VILLAGE". Based on a single digital platform, EASY VILLAGE can set up connected urban services, providing greater practicality, convenience and interactions among and for the benefit of the residents.

Finally, district concierge services offer residents a range of free amenities including: internet access, package delivery, information and reservations, routine errands, and more.

MASSY - PLACE DU GRAND OUEST: KEY FIGURES

• A district that was completed in just two and a half years!
• A 100,000 m² mixed-use plan
• 850 residential properties when completed
• A Convention Centre that accommodates 600 people
• A 9-theatre multiplex cinema
• A 4-star hotel
• An 86-apartment Cogedim Club serviced residence for seniors
• A medical centre
• Some 30 brick-and-mortar shops, services and restaurants, and an average food surface area of 2,500 m²
• A 9-classroom pre-school providing enough space for a whole school
• A 1,500-space parking garage, including 550 public spaces
• More than €200 million invested

The origin of the district

FROM THE OUTSET, AN AMBITIOUS URBAN RENEWAL PROJECT FOR MASSY ATLANTIS AND INNOVATIVE TOOLS

After starting out as an industrial park in the early 20th century, the Champs ronds business park in MASSY first opened itself to commercial activities in the 1950s. The TGV's arrival in 1991 spurred the city and Paris Sud Aménagement to reflect in depth on the future of the site. Following evaluations conducted by town planner Laurent Bécard, in 2003 the city adopted a blueprint and then embarked on a large-scale project covering around 100 hectares, 750,000 m² of office space and 5,000 residential units: the new Massy-Atlantis district is born. Within this new mixed-use district, a central hub of activity was needed; this will be the Place du Grand Ouest, strategically located right next to the remarkably accessible transport hub. The principles of the square were conceptualised in 2004 by Jean Chéron, a town planner at DLM Architectes.

Massy-Atlantis is thus developing very rapidly thanks to the innovative urban development area incentive tool implemented by Paris Sud Aménagement. Property owners are encouraged to develop their assets, thus increasing their constructability; the transformation of the old industrial zone is therefore moving quickly. In order to have complete control over the project, the developer will propose the direct acquisition of the Place du Grand Ouest.

AN INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIP-BASED APPROACH

       In October 2010, Paris Sud Aménagement launched a one-time announcement of bidding that foresaw a new type of 1st stage development for the future Place du Grand Ouest. After six months of discussions with Paris Sud Aménagement, the selection board, chaired by MASSY mayor Vincent Delahaye, announced that it had chosen the project proposed by ALTAREA COGEDIM, which would join forces with the firm of Christian and Elizabeth de Portzamparc as authorised architects for the group, which would also bring together the talents of two architectural firms, Badia Berger and VONGDC.

Since 2014, Crédit Agricole Assurances, Europe's leading bank insurer, has joined the project as an investor. This major real estate operation demonstrates its ability to invest in the economy in a sustained and sustainable manner in areas with high potential like Massy.

The "single operator" 1st stage development conceived by PARIS SUD AMENAGEMENT strove for quality and overall consistency of scheduling and compliance with deadlines.

“Nowadays we have to create a different kind of city, and Place du Grand Ouest is an example of this. Without losing control of the project, the ongoing dialogue between Paris Sud Aménagement, the city, Altarea Cogedim and its partners has enabled ambitions to be examined in depth, both regarding urban planning and economic viability, as well as the operating conditions for facilities such as the Convention Centre. This work is a preview of what could be implemented around the stations of Greater Paris”, added Willem Pauwels – Director of Paris Sud Aménagement.

AN ESSENTIAL BUILDING BLOCK IN THE HEART OF SOUTHERN PARIS

Strategically located next to a railway hub - SNCF (TGV station), RER (B and C lines), Grand Paris Express (L18) - the Place du Grand Ouest is the new gateway to the Atlantis district.

The Place du Grand Ouest, a central element of the city's urban renewal firmly establishes Massy as the Southern Capital of Greater Paris.

"With a TGV station, opera house, first-rate sport facilities, rare and abundant diversity, and unprecedented economic development, Massy is a shining example of the city of tomorrow. Its strategic location as gateway to the future campus of the prestigious Paris-Saclay university gives Massy its unrivalled status as Southern Capital of Greater Paris", concludes Vincent Delahaye, Senator-Mayor of Massy.