A new milestone for Equilis France, which is developing a mixed-use project of 25,000 m², 13,000 m² of offices, 212 residential units and a restaurant.
After two years at the helm of the French subsidiary, Laurent Tirot, CEO of Equilis France, made no secret of his enthusiasm at the signing of the VEFA with Urssaf:
«This confirms the attractiveness of our development in the Sophia Antipolis technology park. La Canopée is an ambitious, exemplary and innovative mixed-use project that will breathe new life into the former Terrasses de Sophia site. Urssaf’s decision to acquire a 4,700 m² building to house all its services (South-East) was based on strong choices in terms of environment, architectural quality and materials. On schedule, work will start in the second half of this year, with handover scheduled for early 2026.»
The transformation of the brownfield site addresses the issue of land artificialisation. The principle of a mixed-use development on a site occupied solely by offices helps to address mobility issues, by bringing housing closer to the workplace and promoting well-integrated soft mobility.
The offices in this project are of wooden-frame construction, with a reduced carbon footprint. Energy performance was also a key concern for the team. The buildings will be low-energy, and a photovoltaic power station will produce energy for self-consumption. Breeam Very Good certification confirms this ambition..
The Canopée project will enable Urssaf to bring together on a single site almost 300 of its employees who currently work at two sites in the immediate vicinity. The high environmental quality of this project, which is part of an eco-responsible programme in terms of both the choice of materials and the use of photovoltaic energy, is fully in line with the CSR strategy pursued by Urssaf and will provide its employees with a high-quality working environment suited to their activities.
The development of the Equilis France business created in 2016 is gathering pace, with potential growth of approximately €400m.
La Canopée embodies and confirms the growth strategy of Equilis, whose ambition is to become a benchmark player for mixed-use operations in France and Europe.
Historically present in the PACA region, Equilis has also expanded into the Ile-de-France.
Equilis is now established in two regions (PACA and Ile-de-France), with an office in each and a team of around fifteen people. Equilis is also developing specific partnerships with local players in other regions (two large-scale projects are currently planned in Clermont-Ferrand and Tours). These ambitions are underpinned by the group’s expertise in all areas of property development (retail, residential and offices), and its specific know-how in brownfield redevelopment. This know-how has enabled Equilis France to develop one of the most ambitious projects in the Sophia Antipolis technology park, La Canopée, a large mixed-use development.