Wanted by the City of Roanne, the Halles Mulsant project, which will also include a housing section, seems to be turning sour. What follow-up to this project?
It’s a dragging sea serpent that’s clearly not at all ready to come to fruition. The Halles Mulsant project is at a standstill and may even be at an impasse.
The idea of creating food halls on rue Mulsant has been germinating in the political mind of Roanne since the beginning of the 21st century. e century. In 2014, Laure Déroche included it in her campaign program, before Yves Nicolin took up the idea, once elected, by enhancing the housing project and a senior residence (Les Maisons de Blandine). The program was awarded in 2018 to the real estate developer AnaHome. The plans for the future project were then revealed in April 2022. At that time, the start of work was announced for September 2022. The launch of the construction site was then mentioned for the first half of 2023, in order to achieve delivery at the end of 2024… But it is clear when visiting the site that the project is far, very far from being built.
The main blocking point would be the difficulty for the project leader to find interested traders to invest in the five to seven commercial premises of the mini-halls, explained the mayor last Thursday to the press. The financial crisis which does not encourage project leaders to get started, coupled with visibly very high rents, would be a reason for the explanation.
To the point of death
“Unless we have very good news quickly with a brand that comes forward to occupy the commercial space, there is little chance that the project will see the light of day before the next municipal elections in 2026,” estimates Yves Nicolin.
Contacted, the President of AnaHome, Pierre Nallet, confirms the situation: “The project as it was the subject of a competition of which we were lucky enough to be winners, it was another time, a another era. Today, there is no longer any economic reality for this operation, for three reasons: the first: there is no trade that has come.” Faced with the glaring lack of interest from local traders, AnaHome then turned to looking for a leader, including a large brand (Lidl, Action, Aldi, or sports halls like BasicFit), but “here too we We have failed, however we have not yet explored all the avenues.” Another obstacle to the project, “the cost of the work initially imagined has increased if we remain with the initial architectural project. As for the sale or rental prices of housing, they are in complete competition with other operations in the city center.”
The developer, starting to get impatient, would have liked to change this program by directing it exclusively towards housing, indicates the mayor. Who specifies: “But Anahome was refused acceptance quite simply because the land had been sold to him with a predefined program and he cannot change the latter for legal reasons. We have to look at this with Epora (Public Land Establishment of Western Rhône-Alpes) which sold him the land.”
However, for the real estate developer, time is running out because Les Maisons de Blandine is starting to get impatient. Finally, Pierre Nallet sums up the situation with a form of fatalism: “For things to move, it has to be financed, and for it to be financed, someone has to believe in the object. But today, no one believes it.”
A meeting is planned between Yves Nicolin, Epora and AnaHome to discuss the follow-up to this operation, even if it means, perhaps, putting the lot back into play.
