Among experts on the subject, we say “Hermès project”. A leather goods store from the luxury house Hermès could see the light of day in the grounds of Robert-Picqué, the future former army training hospital, in Villenave-d’Ornon, route de Toulouse. This is the resounding prospect of establishment on which the French group is working in Gironde. A potential third Hermès site in the department, after Saint-Vincent-de-Paul (200 employees, open in 2021) and Loupes, in Entre-deux-Mers, under construction (250 employees by 2025-2026) , and a first for the nearby Bordeaux area.
“The negotiations are not finalized,” tempers an observer, while confirming the existence “for two years” of tripartite exchanges involving the Ministry of the Armed Forces and Bordeaux Métropole. Because the Robert-Picqué site, with 22.5 hectares including 35,000 m² of buildings, on the edge of Villenave-d’Ornon, Talence and Bègles, is set for a major reconversion after the closure of the military hospital. .
“Crafts” sector
The Ministry of the Armed Forces – which nevertheless retains control over a 6-hectare land reserve – will release this immense plot “at the end of 2025”, leaving Bordeaux Métropole, its future owner, the task of implementing a vast reallocation program, between park public and hosting of economic activities. Everything is entrusted to the Fabrique de Bordeaux Métropole (FAB), the metropolitan developer, who has formed an urban project management group here, with architects, town planners and other landscapers.
If the “health and medico-social” sector was “privileged” in the “guide plan” communicated in October 2023, at the very beginning of the public consultation, “the programming is set to evolve in the next phases of the project, depending on needs and opportunities”, it was specified for all practical purposes. In fact, a “craft” island is shown on a map in the same file, in place of the current “south pole” of the hospital, between “la courée” and the old nursing school.
From there to seeing the walls of a future Hermès factory, there is only one step. “No information on the project”, says the leather goods manufacturer for the moment, who kindly refers to the opening of the Loupes site “end of 2025, beginning of 2026”. Asked about the simple progress of the economic reconversion of the Robert-Picqué site, Bordeaux Métropole considers it “premature to talk about it now”. Ditto for Michel Pavoinec, mayor of Villenave-d’Ornon and incidentally delegated advisor of the Metropolis in charge of the development project on the Robert-Picqué site, who refuses to make any comments.
