In Costières, to the south of the city, the president of Nîmes Olympique Rani Assaf is investing for the future. Opalia is the contracting authority associated with this project. Its president Cyrill Meynadier says more.
If the president of Nîmes Olympique Rani Assaf invests a lot in thethe neighborhood project for the future football stadium Nemausus, whose delivery is scheduled for 2026, he receives valuable support from Opalia.
This Montpellier real estate developer, who carried the L’Arbre blanc architectural program to Montpellier, is the delegated contracting authority: “We advise Mr. Assaf for real estate development, the setting up of procedures, the call for tenders”, specifies the president of Opalia Cyrill Meynadier.
The latter also whispered in the ear of the president of NO the name of the architect Denis Valode who signed with Jean Pistre the project of a new stadium which incorporates the monumental arches of the arenas: “Denis Valode has the experience, like a true professor of architecture. He went to visit the city before delivering his sketches.”
Cyrill Meynadier, President of Opalia Immobilier: “This kind of project is quite rare!”
“Rebuild the city on the city”
The chosen architect had already worked on a project led by Opalia in Castelnau-le-Lez (Hérault), the Prado-Concorde “to make the link between the city center and the adjacent districts. It finds solutions to urban problems with a broader socio-demographic vision”, underlines the president of Opalia.
For the district of the future stadium, the real estate developer sees an opportunity to be seized for a city the size of Nîmes: “With such volumes, we will breathe new life into the city. We are really at the heart of what we want to do on an environmental level. We are going to rebuild the city on the city, renew the district with more complementarity of uses, socio-cultural diversity, services, student and senior housing, a medical offer. “
For Opalia, such a real estate complex emerging from the ground is generally seen more on the side of Lyon or in the Paris region. “As there is a lack of land, this kind of project is quite rare. There, for this district, the park will be the lawn of the stadium. ! It will not only work for the nineteen matches of a season but permanently“, annonce Cyrill Meynadier.
This is based on the fact that the new housing supply will benefit the entire neighborhood, which will gain in quality. “For Nîmes, it is also an asset in terms of job creation“, we announce at Opalia. Thousand posts “not relocatable “ will be created when the building complex is delivered by 2026 (start of construction two years before).
The example of English stadiums in the heart of cities
Unlike other programs, the real estate developer is delighted to have started with a blank sheet, which made it possible to reflect on the size of the future district before designing the stadium.
The sources of inspiration were numerous: “We went to see what is done best like at the Décines-Charpieu stadium. The president of the Olympique Lyonnais club Jean-Michel Aulas received us. But it is not of the same dimension as the Nîmes project . The example is really England with these stadiums in the heart of cities. “
For the moment, the news is consultation that invites the public to participate in workshops and reflections on this project. “It was not compulsory but we decided to talk to all the stakeholders to bring out new ideas. If there is no communication, there can be apprehension. the moment there is enthusiasm, very constructive exchanges with the population “, indique Cyrill Meynadier.
Environmental file
Opalia, which also delivered 60 houses and a collective of 122 housing units this summer in the Hauts de Nîmes, highlights the eco-district. The environmental file has just been completed to respond to ecological issues, whether for faunistic or floristic aspects.
Trees and local fauna will be preserved according to the associated contracting authority. “Land is needed as part of the compensatory measures. With this virtuous procedure, projects take longer to be completed. If ten years ago, it took two or three years to bring a project out, now it’s more 4-5 years.”
The challenge remains enormous with fifteen different real estate programs to emerge from the ground. For Cyrill Meynadier, maintaining good relations with Rani Assaf “very fast in the analysis with a clean operation” and the town hall, which delivers the building permits, is for the time being one of the keys to the success of the operation.
An investment of 200 M €
The building owner of the future stadium is SAS Nemau of Rani Assaf, which has planned for this major project € 200 million of entirely private investments.
In addition to the Nemausus stadium with its 15,000 seats, there will be fifteen real estate programs launched in one place with two and four star hotels, a higher education school, medical offices, shops, 700 housing units, offices, a residence senior and a second for students.
For this large-scale project, a public consultation was set up by SAS Nemau and the City of Nîmes for the new district, the stadium, but also the sports hall. A public meeting will take place on Wednesday October 20 at 6 p.m. at Mas Merlet, 903 chemin du Mas de Sorbier.
