Everest boosts interest in the French Alpine property market
Publicity about this year’s sixtieth anniversary of the ascent of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay may have reawakened interest in the allure of snow-capped mountains, explaining why this promises to be a busy summer for companies selling properties in the French Alps.
That is the theory of Richard Deans who heads the London-based UK sales office of MGM French Properties, the leading developer of properties in many of the region’s most popular ski resorts as well as some lesser-known locations.
“I sense a degree of pent-up demand which could mean a lot more summer viewings by Britons wanting to buy properties ahead of the start of the 2013 ski season,” says Richard. He is offering properties completed and ready to occupy now in around a dozen locations including La Rosiere, Les Caroz, Chatel, Samoens and Chatel. Others are in Valmorel, Chamonix and Bourg St Maurice.
MGM reports that, increasingly, Britons who enjoy the way of life in rural French villages and towns – as well as outdoor activities like hiking, biking and climbing or fishing, sailing and paragliding – want to buy mountain properties for summer holidays as well.
Meanwhile tower cranes on the skyline signal that work is continuing apace on new MGM developments taking shape in Tignes 1800 and St Martin de Belleville.
In Tignes, MGM’s Kalinda Village comprises a residence de tourisme of 250 ski-in, ski-out apartments for sale on a leaseback basis and an adjacent 28-bedroom hotel. Together they form part of a brand new eco-village described as a ‘state-of-the-art example of sustainable development.’
In St Martin de Belleville work is well under way on the construction of Le Chalet Adele, a small development of just 19 ski apartments for outright sale.
The ski-in/ski-out apartments occupy what Richard describes as “a perfect location for skiers in winter and walkers in summer.”
St Martin de Belleville, located at an altitude of 1,400 metres, is a typical Alpine village. Centred around its ancient square and sixteenth century church, it has retained the charm of an earlier age. It is situated in the Belleville Valley below Les Menuires with good access to all of the 600 kms of pistes in the Three Valleys area. A gondola and fast quad (chairlift for four people) link the village with the slopes at Meribel and Les Menuires.
An ‘Everest moment’ for MGM French Properties
This year marks what Richard Deans describes as “an Everest moment” for MGM French Properties. Coinciding with the sixtieth anniversary of the ascent of the mountain by Sir Edmund Hillary, 2013 is MGM’s Golden Jubilee.
Fifty years ago French builder Maurice Giraud constructed his first chalets in the French Alps and today the €160 million turnover family business established in 1963 today employs around 60 people engaged in the planning, design, construction and marketing of apartments, chalets and villas in the region.
Now headed by Maurice Giraud’s son David, the company has a land bank big enough to create new ski resort developments for the next seven years. At the current rate of construction and sales – about 400 apartments annually – that would result in the creation of 2,800 new properties.
Says Richard: “Fifty years on we are continuing to climb mountains in every sense and already plans are in hand for the new developments MGM will build in the next three years on sites within a region stretching from Chatel in the north of the French Alps to Montgenèvre in the south, as well as the area around Lake Annecy.”
For more information, visit mgmfrenchproperties.com.
