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New Châteaucreux business district
Head Office of Casino
The project
The main gateway into the city from Lyon, the Châteaucreux district of Saint-Etienne, with its 11 hectares to the south of the railway lines and 16 hectares to the north, will be transformed by this initiative. The Châteaucreux business district will be one of the key engines for the reconstruction of the conurbation of Saint-Etienne, with offices, hotels and accommodations, all fed by the new tramway line connecting the town centre in September 2006. The multi-mode nature of the high-speed railway (TGV) station will be improved by the bus station being developed alongside it, and by a 600-space car park. This new business quarter, which will ultimately be home to 250,000m² of offices and 400 rental properties, is also an ambitious town planning project, which will include the construction of a sizeable landscaped walk in front of the railway station.The Châteaucreux business centre
The Châteaucreux business centre will cover 40 hectares, 250,000m² of which will be office space and will be connected to the town centre by the tramway. The aim of town planner Patrick Chavannes is to make Châteaucreux a “genuinely attractive place to live”. This urban character will be emphasised by a long landscaped walk which will border the square outside the railway station and the head office of Casino, the spearhead of the upcoming services facility (total area of 60,000m² bringing together the group’s 13 existing sites and employing 2,500 staff, opening in 2007).The Châteaucreux business centre provides an opportunity for investors who wish to locate their business in a new district on the doorstep of Lyon at a price which compares very favourably with other French cities. Keen to promote sustainable development, the conurbation has contributed to the creation of the International Resources and Innovation Centre for Sustainable Development (CIRIDD). The environmental target has been set in the form of a set of specifications to be applied to the overall development of the district.
Service sector, hotels, businesses : a strong business proposition…
A number of zones have been identified as priorities. The conurbation’s goal is to attract other major companies to establish their headquarters in the area opposite Casino’s headquarters. These buildings will be built along the edge of the landscaped walk. They will be built to a very high architectural standard, like Casino – which was designed by Architecture Studio and will be delivered in July 2007.The Grüner administrative centre will be, after Casino, the services centre’s second largest operation. In the area opposite the TGV rail station, businesses, accommodation and a three-star hotel will be built; these will be ideally located to meet the needs of company executives and upper management on business trips to Saint-Etienne.
In addition to this, 40,000-60,000m² of land will ultimately be available in the railway station area (to the south-east).
An opportunity for investors
The first plots sold at Châteaucreux, after Casino’s world headquarters, relate to the Grüner administrative centre, on the tramway route. This will be home to a number of public administrations and private businesses. The operation will cover 25,000m² to be built in two phases, the first of which will be delivered in early 2008.
Buildings to be constructed opposite the railway station will include a 120-room three-star hotel (with a 150-apartment business accommodation block complementing the hotel), accommodation and local businesses at the foot of the building: vehicle hire firms, travel agencies, gyms, etc.
Saint-Etienne’s “Fifth Avenue” is expected to attract company offices from Saint-Etienne itself or further afield. 110,000m² of net floor area will be under construction between now and 2009 in the area around the Châteaucreux business district.
© Saint-Etienne Metropole
