On Thursday 14 January, the ULI France 2020 Annual Conference took place on the theme, ‘J.O. Paris 2024, “Heritage”: An accelerator of urban regeneration?’. The event took place in the auditorium of Altarea’s new headquarters in the heart of Paris. The current Chair of ULI France, Sébastien Chemouny,  Head of France at Allianz Real Estate, welcomed the guests and shared his best wishes for 2021.

The conference began with Christopher Choa, founder, Outcomist Ltd, who set the stage for future discussions. He went back over the history of the Olympic Games with Pierre de Fredy, founder of the modern Olympic Games, who proved to be a forerunner of the social aspects that developed cities. Olympism or a state of mind that animates cities and athletes, a philosophy, a way of life, a tool for social development and progress, inclusion and accessibility. A very long term vision, since the host city is determined 8 years in advance, which gives it time to prepare itself and prepare the legacy….Chris also put forward examples of Olympic cities in the world to follow and others, on the contrary, not to follow.

The first panel, moderated by Stephan de Faÿ̈, Managing Director, Grand Paris Aménagement, focused on the question of the “Legacy” that the 2024 Olympic Games will leave in France, with panellists, Anne Mie Depuydt, urban architect, uapS, Emmanuel Desmaizières, managing director, Icade Promotion, Nicolas Ferrand, executive managing director,  Solideo, and Marie Sallois, director, Organisation and Sustainable Development Department of the International Olympic Committee. They were all able to bounce back on the issue of reconciling the “ephemeral” side with the real ambition of sustainable development, and in particular how the IOC has evolved its vision, practices and expectations. Nicolas Ferrand went into more detail about the environmentally virtuous project, which is a long-term project, and more concretely about the ambition that is being pursued, and how to ensure that the preparation of the Games will have an impact beyond the Games themselves. Anne-Mie Depuydt presented the challenge of making whole neighbourhoods emerge very quickly, and how all these ambitions influence the way in which the projects are approached. Anne_mie also returned to the other use, after that of the Olympic villages, and how to find their place in the city. A heavy constraint and a great challenge; opportunity; additional difficulty; space of freedom to experiment. Emmanuel Desmaizières, for his part, further developed what the concrete elements are for a promoter that make this operation emblematic. Finally, the panellists tried to answer the question of how to keep the ambition to the end, i.e. until after the Olympics?

The second round table, moderated by Nathalie Charles – global head of investment management, BNP Paribas Real Estate, with Thierry Berthier, chairman of the management board at Grand Paris Habitat, Jérôme Nicot, director of urban consultations and innovations at Pichet, and Eric Donnet, managing director of Groupama Immobilier, all investors involved in the JOPs, developed their respective positions in the operation, the constitution of the groups in a limited timeframe, the economic balance, the challenges (in Covid, resilience, climate, circularity, ESG, Tech…), the issues (permits, insurance…), financing, risks and also the returns on investment.  As a preamble to the round table, the key take away from the intervention of Yasuaki Oda from Mitsubishi Real Estate was recalled, with the investment criteria for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the opportunities and challenges. The panellists discussed the elements of comparison between the situations in Paris and Tokyo.

Finally, Ryadh Sallem, paralympic athlete, Ambassador of “Paris 2024” and ESS entrepreneur, interviewed by Melanie Charpentier, ULI France, brought another perspective on these games, notably on the subjects of accessibility and standards, on the choice of civilisation we want to have in the choice of urbanisation of the territory. But also on the fact that the Games are a driving force and a source of innovation for our territory, with always a before and after Olympics. In particular, he returned to the intangible imprint of the Olympic and Paralympic Games within our society and among the population. He particularly developed, with conviction and passion, the social legacy in which Games are inclusive,  illustrating his points with international examples.

Sébastien Chemouny, chair ULI France, in his closing words, invited our sector to generalise the five pillars that were highlighted during the conference, namely carbon, biodiversity, reuse of materials, respect for the climate and universal accessibility. Certainly ambitious, and within tight deadlines, but which bring comfort and, above all, enable sustainability over several generations, all with an economic balance that motivates major private investors. In particular, it emphasises that beyond Paris as the showcase of the world in 2024, the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games must be the showcase of our real estate industry .

“What we offer to the world we can apply to ourselves” Ryadh Sallem.

Pictures of the event can be found here.