French retailer Carrefour has teamed up with Nexity to enhance its real estate portfolio in the country.
The project will see Carrefour and Nexity develop mixed programmes with high environmental performance, hosting housing, service residences, shops, offices or hotels, the retailer added.
Alexandre Bompard, chairman and CEO of Carrefour commented, "Thanks to this ambitious urban renewal programme, we will extract the full value of our real estate and assets, to recreate a richer and more dynamic urban fabric around our commercial areas.
"The partnership with Nexity allows us to benefit from the expertise of a leading group in the sector and in the development of urban diversity. It is also a project at the heart of our commitment to ecological transition, allowing us to make the best use of our footprint and limit the artificialisation of soils."
It will focus around integrating Carrefour centres into redesigned neighbourhoods in consultation with elected officials and local authorities.
The projects will be adapted to their environment by integrating a mix of uses on land that has already been developed, and support the ecological urban transition by creating green spaces and promoting local soft mobility.
Urban Transformation Project
The transformation project will involve 76 sites across France and impact all Carrefour store formats - hypermarkets, supermarkets, and convenience stores.
Out of the total, 40 sites located in the heart of the city will be completely rehabilitated, with the reintegration of a commercial food area, the retailer noted.
Renovation at the 36 other sites, at the entrance to towns or commercial areas, concern existing parking spaces, which will be re-allocated to urban projects.
Carrefour added that the 76 sites represent approximately 800,000 square-metres and their development should allow the creation of 12,000 housing units, 120,000 square-metre of shops, including the reconstruction of certain stores, 10,000 square-metre of offices and activities, and 17,000 square-metres of hotels.
'A Transforming And Exemplary Approach'
Véronique Bédague, chair and CEO of Nexity said, "This is an opportunity for Nexity to implement a transforming and exemplary approach to urban regeneration, and to meet the challenges of combating urban sprawl and energy transition.
"It is also for Nexity the means of achieving very high environmental performance (2028 or 2031 thresholds of the RE2020), and we can count on our lead in terms of the industrialisation of construction processes allowing us to shorten construction times and to reduce the nuisance."
The land holding vehicle, scheduled to be created in the first quarter of 2024, will be 80% owned by Carrefour and 20% by Nexity.
