Aix-Marseille-Provence at the 2022 SIMI commercial real estate expo

It’s time to embrace the next generation of business capitals

How is the Euro-Mediterranean business hub of the future being built? Come and find out at the 2022 edition of SIMI, the renowned commercial real estate expo in Paris! Provence Promotion will be at Stand E59 – Level 1 along with teams from the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, the Euroméditerranée business district developers, the Port of Marseille Fos, and Marseille Provence Airport. Gathered under the banner of One Provence, they will present the territory’s economic advantages, urban development projects, and investment opportunities to promoters, investors, and companies.

Along with a series of meetings, Provence Promotion is organizing two conferences at the SIMI real estate expo: one will explore the trend of companies choosing emerging regional metro areas over traditional business capitals, and the other will examine the growing range of biotech-related real estate opportunities for healthcare companies. See you at SIMI from December 6 to 8, 2022 at the Palais des Congrès Porte Maillot in Paris!

Every year, all the main stakeholders in the French commercial real estate industry meet at the SIMI conference to evaluate the most promising new projects and opportunities.

At a time when space for real estate development is becoming increasingly scarce and there is an urgent focus on improved environmental performance, the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis is stepping up its efforts to develop commercial real estate projects that meet the evolving expectations of business leaders. As a result, the metro area real estate market is quickly diversifying to adapt to both new uses of space and demands for more sustainable and environmentally friendly property solutions.

Aix-Marseille is building a model of the city of future

The strength and appeal of Aix-Marseille’s commercial real estate offer come from its ability to innovate and its flexibility that allows it to meet specific business needs.

Euroméditerranée, which is a French public development project (EPA), is implementing techniques to reduce the environmental impact of new buildings and urban developments as it expands into its second phase in the 15th arrondissement of Marseille. Two new green neighborhoods, Les Fabriques and Smartseille, are prime examples of these pioneering real estate developments. They feature best-in-class technologies for low-carbon construction as well as sustainable and connected buildings that are perfectly adapted to the Mediterranean climate.

As part of their project to develop a model for the city of the future, real estate and development stakeholders in Aix-Marseille are also facilitating more inclusive projects. With their efforts to reinvent neighborhoods to include large third spaces, they are providing people with chances to get professional training, find meaningful work, create synergies, and build social networks.

Two conferences are being organized so conference participants can find out more about the dynamic Aix-Marseille commercial real estate market:

• Tuesday, December 6 at 2:30 pm – Stand E59
  Aix-Marseille-Provence 2030: A Laboratory for Successful Urban Transition in the Mediterranean Basin
   
• Wednesday, December 7 at 2:30 pm – Stand E59
  Euroméditerranée: Real Estate Opportunities for Training Digital Talent, Promoting Inclusion, and Accelerating Economic Development

With the rise of regional metro areas, investors are flocking to Aix-Marseille

Over the past several years, regional metro areas with more space and more competitively priced property opportunities have emerged as highly attractive alternatives to traditional business capitals as companies seek to decentralize their activities. This trend of relocating core business functions has been accentuated by the health crisis and regional metro areas are adapting their business strategies to provide agile solutions for companies in areas such as real estate, HR, and CSR.

Drawing on its industrial heritage and diverse business ecosystems, Aix-Marseille-Provence is one of the French territories where there has been a revival of historical industries as a wave of start-ups and entrepreneurs locate to the territory and boost circular economies. Businesses are going digital, transforming their working methods, and embracing the challenge of lowering the territory’s carbon footprint. This movement towards new business models is in harmony with the development projects of international companies, and as a result, Aix-Marseille is now one of the most attractive French options for foreign direct investment (FDI).

A special round table will be held at the SIMI expo to discuss the concrete advantages of regional metro areas compared to traditional business capitals.

• Wednesday, December 7 at 12:30 pm - Room 352B
  Attracting International Companies to France: Is it Time for Regional Metro Areas to Take Center Stage?
  
  Speakers:

-> Hubert Joachim, Global Head of Investments and Asset Management, Amundi Immobilier
-> Christian Auboyneau, Director General DZA, Les États de la France
-> Stéphane Ghio, Director of Economic Development, Euroméditerranée
-> Matthieu Vis, Head of International & Strategy Provence Promotion (moderator)

A special session will also be held at the One Provence stand to present new real estate opportunities for biotech companies in the Aix-Marseille-Provence metro area.

• Wednesday, December 7 at 4:15 pm - stand E59
  Biotech Real Estate in Aix-Marseille

This session will highlight two projects: DocCity, a new biotech hub for innovative health companies in Marseille, and a pair of specialized tech buildings developed by Sogeprom in the Napollon business park at the foot of the Garlaban mountain in Aubagne outside of Marseille.

Provence Promotion récompense au SIMI 4 implantations récentes d’entreprises

Four companies that have recently set up or expanded their operations in the Aix-Marseille metro area will also be honored at the SIMI expo. In the presence of Laure-Agnès Caradec, the President of the Board of Directors of Euroméditerranée, and Gérard Gazay, the Mayor of Aubagne and Vice-President of the Aix-Marseille Provence Metropolis, the One Provence stand will host the ceremony to recognize the investments made by these dynamic businesses:

• ETYO, cis a consulting and project management firm with a global vision for real estate, sustainable development, and supply chain projects. The firm moved to Newton Offices in Marseille almost a year ago. Created in 2012, ETYO is an independent consulting group operating in France and Europe. With six offices in France (Paris, Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Toulouse, and Aix-Marseille), the company has 75 employees and a turnover of €9 million.
   
• EFRONTECH, is an IT consulting and digital solutions company that opened its South East branch in Marseille in May 2022. For its first regional office outside of Paris, eFrontech chose to rent space at Babel Community in Marseille’s central business district. The company, which has passed the 100-employee mark, will generate revenues of more than €12 million in 2022.
   
• GROUPE VASTINT, is an international investor and developer (offices, residential buildings, and hotels) that established its subsidiary Vastint France in Marseille in 2020. It has now acquired of Domaine Vallée Verte, located in the 11th arrondissement of Marseille. The Domaine Vallée Verte is a real estate park with approximately 31 000m2 of office and business space located on a site with a total area of 16 hectares. There is a 7-hectare parcel that remains to be developed around 1 hectare of protected forest.
   
• DOCCITY LifeSciences, is a real estate developer in the healthcare sector that has invested in Marseille by creating a 7500 m2 biotech hub for innovative companies with offices and specialized laboratories (L1 and L2). DocCity is working in close collaboration with local authorities, the Eurobiomed competitiveness cluster for health technology companies in the South of France, and all the stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem.

These companies – three from the real estate sector and one working closely with the sector – all received support from the Provence Promotion economic development agency and they form a perfect showcase for the economic advantages of Aix-Marseille and its diverse range of office space and real estate assets. Provence Promotion supports all phases of investment and tailors its assistance to specific company needs in areas such as real estate searches, mobility or recruitment support, and business networking.