the 186 housing units planned along the Périgueux canal will not see the light of day

Lhe advert was enticing: “Ideal for living or investing in Périgueux […] On the banks of the canal and in the heart of the Isle valley, in an exceptional setting, between the city and nature, take full advantage of the capital of Périgord. A 5-minute walk from the city center and all local shops, discover our M3 houses from 156,000 euros. »

Duplicated endlessly on Internet real estate sites, this ad was also visible in a “customer area” located at 5, cours Fénelon. But the office closed. And Internet ads now state that “it is no longer possible to apply for this program.” For good reason: the leader of this 186-unit project has thrown in the towel.

Houses and buildings

The idea slowly emerged with the big upheaval initiated by the restructuring of the station district. As early as 2018, we were talking about eco-friendly housing between the Isle and the canal, towards the Rousseau mill. But the place was occupied by the metalworker Barcométal, a subsidiary of the Nontronnais company Barconnière. It was at the turn of the 2020s that production ceased there, leaving the field open for another destination on the site, marked for “urban renewal” (1).

The opportunity was too good, it was seized by the national developer Nexity who, in October 2022, submitted a development permit. One month later, a company was created, registered in the register of the Lille commercial court: Périgueux Promenade du Canal. Nexity was equally associated with Airis Aquitaine, a branch of the Lamotte real estate group. His vocation was construction and sales.

Also in 2022, in December, a first building permit was filed by this company. This involved erecting 107 housing units distributed in three buildings: one with a social vocation, another for traditional accession and a last mixed one. The buildings were designed along the Isle, with apartments ranging from T1 to T4.

PPVE

Four months later, in March 2023, a second building permit was filed. This time for 29 accession houses, located on the same plot, but along the canal. In May of the same year, the two building permits were granted in the wake of the development permit.

But already there was frying on the line. First alert: the mandatory Public Participation by Electronic Means (PPVE) did not collect any comments. Second alert: a third building permit for a building of around fifty housing units, envisaged in the planning permit, was not filed. It never will be.

“The significant pollution of the site, the presence of a wetland and protected species”

On the town hall side, we viewed this “good project” with kindness, declared the 1st deputy Émeric Lavitola. Especially since administrative engineering was following its normal course. La Promenade du canal with social housing, a social landlord (Noalis), requested funding from the City in January 2024.

In March 2024, the Municipal Council voted in this direction, subsidizing these constructions for 60,000 euros. A drop in the ocean compared to the 7 million euros of the program presented in the deliberation, where delivery in December 2026 was announced.

Except that at the same time, the small real estate ads praising the Canal Promenade disappeared. And on the Barcométal site, the advertising panel announcing “soon here” apartments and houses was eaten away by ivy and brambles. Without being official, the obsolescence was obvious.

Pollution and protected species

It was after a request from “Sud Ouest” this September that the abandonment was confirmed by Nexity. The motive? “The significant pollution of the site, the presence of a wetland and protected species. » These points had been raised by the Environmental Authority (MRAe) which had scrutinized the planning permit.

Submitted in January 2023, its report concluded that there was “proven pollution of soil and groundwater” (hydrocarbons, metals and benzene), a legacy of the site’s industrial past. Certainly, the place is not in a flood zone – unlike its only access road – but it can be subject to “land movements”. The MRAe’s opinion also regretted the weakness of certain aspects of the file, such as the analysis of the impacts of the project on the natural environment, in particular amphibians and avifauna.

Officially, it is for these reasons that “it was decided to abandon this project”, declares Nexity. Another hypothesis, not confirmed by the developer, would be the low marketing rate of the housing planned in its program, hampering its profitability.

(1) Local intercommunal urban planning plan for Grand Périgueux.