Monaco inaugurated its new Mareterra district at the beginning of December, an enormous real estate project which allows it to encroach on six hectares of luxury on the Mediterranean Sea but puts an end to successive extensions for the moment.
« This extension at sea (…) embodies my vision, that of a principality which dares, which embraces audacity, which controls its destiny with wisdom, which knows how to listen to the environment. declared Prince Albert II, surrounded by his family and the actors of this private project worth more than two billion euros launched in 2015.
The princely family then surveyed the new district, singularly green and elegant in an area where real estate pressure had pushed in recent decades to the haphazard erection of tall towers that were not always graceful.
Cramped over two square kilometers between the sea and the mountains, Monaco had already gained 40 hectares from the sea in seven previous extensions since 1907, more than half of which in the 1960s with the Fontvieille district, where the Louis stadium is located. II.
A construction site without equivalent
But the Mareterra site has no equivalent, even in the Middle East, given the depth of the structure, which goes down to 50 meters, and the seismic or environmental constraints.
“Between Fontvieille and Mareterra, there is the same technological voucher as between a landline dial telephone and an iPhone 15”, assured Guy-Thomas Levy-Soussan, managing director of Anse du Portier, promoter of the project.
Bringing together around ten families with powerful names in Monaco, starting with Patrice Pastor, the man whose influence continues to grow on the Rock, Anse du Portier has focused on luxury and space, aimed at the handful of ultra-rich who will settle there in the coming days and the many expected visitors.
The site is supported by 18 enormous concrete caissons which demarcate a new coastline. The interior was filled with sand and consolidated with more than a thousand large piles 45 meters high.
Prices up to 120,000 euros per square meter
On this land, the new district, entrusted to the Valode et Pistre Architectes firm, in partnership with the Italian Renzo Piano, includes 120 apartments of a minimum of 400 m² and ten villas, extremely rare properties in Monaco which have sold very well . According to a government source, prices went up to 120,000 euros per square meter.
The project also represented a windfall for the Monegasque government, which recovered several public works (a car park, conference rooms, walking areas, etc.) and significant tax revenues.
In September, the Minister of Finance, Pierre-André Chiappori, explained that with the end of the project, the state budget would lose 200 million euros in annual tax revenue.
Enough to whet the appetite for new projects?
For the moment, it’s no: “ Further extensions are not possible or desirable at this time“, declared Prince Albert II of Monaco in his speech.
« The sovereign is careful to ensure that the development of the principality is sustainable and has the least impact. Obviously, when we talk about extension at sea, it is not without consequences“, explained Céline Caron-Diagioni, Minister of Equipment, Environment and Town Planning.
For Mareterra, promoters and government insisted on the environmental measures put in place throughout the project, with for example the movement of 500 m² of Posidonia meadows, this plant which serves as a nursery for fish and a carbon sink, the treatment of polluted sediments or the development of caissons so that marine life can appropriate them.
Possible new extensions will come up against the presence of protected marine areas and even greater depths.
« We have ideas, fortunately. You have to have ideas, you have to have dreams. Afterwards, are these reasonable dreams, is it feasible? Not always. Here, I think it gets complicated“, recognized Guy-Thomas Lévy-Soussan.
Hello, it’s us… the sweet Cookies! ????
We love that you are greedy for our content. But to make your visit even sweeter, we would like to accompany you with some cookies — we promise, they are calorie-free. What do you think?
Wondering why we serve you cookies? ????
Counting our visitors is important!
It’s simple: we want to make your experience here as sweet as our content. Cookies help us count your visits to better understand your preferences, pamper you with what you like, and make sure you don’t miss anything. And don’t worry, they’re still calorie-free!
The storage or technical access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication on a electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
Technical storage or access used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance by your Internet service provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this sole purpose generally cannot be used to identify you.
Storage or technical access is necessary to create user profiles in order to send advertising or to track the user across a website or across websites for similar marketing purposes.
Configure your consents
We use cookies to guarantee you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site, we will assume that you are happy with it.OK
