VINGT Paris

Montmartre is moving!

A common problem with buildings in Montmartre is due to a curious phenomenon relating to carrieres (this means quarries).

The beautiful fin de siecle architecture scattered over the Butte and especially around Lamarck Caulincourt are on the hill where they originally got the stone for building Paris. The hill of Montmartre is just a thin veneer of rock over an underground quarry, a Swiss cheese of caverns and tunnels, and fortunes are spent pumping the caverns full of a mixture of concrete and clay. Initially the miners quarrymen left columns of stone to hold the whole thing up, but water has seeped in over the years, eroding away the columns, and surface subsidence has occurred.

Luxury and prestige - what Paris is best at!

People are always asking me if the prices are dropping or going to drop at the moment. Especially those sitting on their hands waiting for their chosen currency to improve or the usual French lament that there is going to be a big crash in the property market. Don't bet on it and if you are after something special (of course all of our clients are) you should know that we have not seen any drop in prices for exceptional products in good areas. They are always quick to sell and the prices are still going up. This also applies to smaller products with charm so hold out for something with the wow factor.

The international buyer is always active in Paris; Russians, Americans and those from the Middle East - and prices in the heart of Paris continue to rise between 5 and 10%. Prices for run-of-the-mill (or just plain ugly of which there are legion in Paris contrary to popular belief) properties have stagnated slightly in the second half of 2007 but good products in les beaux quartiers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16, South 17, Neuilly, Boulogne and Saint-Cloud) have continued to perform well.

Pink PQ

One trend that I can see will take a while to catch on in Paris, even trendy Paris. Portuguese paper products company Renova sells Renova Black, lauded as the first fashionable toilet paper. Price per roll is EUR 2.17. Renova Black is also available as Renova Red, Renova Orange, and Renova Green.

But not in Renova Grainy Pink. The preferred colour for toilet paper all over France.

n.b. - PQ, or papier cul - toilet paper in France.

Renovation of the Magasins généraux & La Villette

As you walk along the la Villette canal basin it is difficult to miss the two buildings that define its extremities.
The Magasins géneraux were built between 1845 and 1853 and stored grain and flour until a fire broke out.

In 2001 the Paris City Council set about their reconversion. The project should be finished in early 2008. The building on quai de Loire already houses a student residence with 165 rooms, 37 artists’ workshops, a restaurant and an exhibition space. Opposite, the exterior appearance of the building has been retained so as not to break the symmetry, and the reconstruction project is part of a High Quality Environmental (HQE) plan: use of renewable raw materials, highly-effective thermal insulation and sun protection standards, as well as a system to produce energy that associates solar captors and the recuperation of rainwater. This building will house an Express by Holiday Inn hotel, an accommodation centre for young people Christopher’s Inn, a car park and a restaurant.

The rehabilitation of the buildings is part of a wider project to develop and enhance the la Villette basin, and
includes notably the opening of MK2 cinemas, the restaurant 25°Est, the renovation of place de la Bataille-de-
Stalingrad, the reconversion of the rotonde de Ledoux, and the project for a marina. So, this once prosperous and subsequently run-down area is in the process of becoming an attractive and trendy place, for both residents and visitors.

A solution to the exchange rate penalty for Americans buying in Paris!

Bonapart's long-term mortgage partner, France Home Finance have informed us of a new bank product that solves the exchange rate penalty for Americans or Brits buying in Paris.

The buyer borrows 100% of the purchase price and the bank requires 25% of the loan amount to be placed in a portfolio as a bond (the client can’t withdraw the funds while the mortgage is outstanding but keeps any gains on investment generated). If the buyer wishes to finance the notaire fees as well, the deposit needs to be 33% of the loan amount.

Paris' new architecture museum

Beside the Louvre Pyramid and the Centre Pompidou (to name a few of the few), this labyrinth of narrow streets doesn't leave much room for new architectural projects. You may find your fix however, at the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, also known as the Cité Chaillot, a newly opened museum in Paris displaying a variety of exhibitions on contemporary architecture -- both French and foreign -- including different approaches to town planning. You can also go for a virtual tour to discover the museum's different galleries. Also, in efforts to encourage thought on the matter, the museum regularly organizes conferences and debates.
Upcoming: a debate in context of the Prix de l’Union Européenne pour l’architecture contemporaine Mies van der Rohe - Prix 2007