"More than two billion euros will have been invested in five years": Jean-François Royer, Euroméditerranée

Where does Euroméditerranée stand?

J.-F. R. - We will have completed the first perimeter by 2017-2018. And we are in an acceleration phase.
With "Marseille, European Cultural Capital", 2013 will have been the year of revelation to the general public. Many of the projects were scheduled for completion by that date. With 4,500 companies and 35,000 jobs, we feel as though we've lifted the curtain on what has become France's third-largest business district. With the transformation of the coastline, an overall logic is emerging.
From the CMA-CGM tower to Fort Saint-Jean, more than two billion euros of investment will have been made in five years, three quarters of it from the private sector. In the current economic climate, this is rare enough to merit a mention.

What about tomorrow?

As far as commercial property is concerned, there are two flagship projects: Euromed Center and the Quais d'Arenc. Euromed Center is 50,000 m2 of office space, a four-star Golden Tulip and a multiplex cinema managed by Europacorp. It's an important project because it's a continuation of the business district and continues the push northwards. The first building, the Astrolabe, will be launched in early 2015, and the hotel is due to arrive in 2016. The second major project is the quays of Arenc. The first office building will be delivered next year, and three more towers are planned: La Marseillaise, designed by Jean Nouvel, a hotel tower and a residential tower.

You claim a certain difference from 'ordinary' business districts. What does this mean?

In everything we build - offices, housing and facilities - we are concerned not only with sustainable development, but also with creating a model that can be exported to the entire Mediterranean region. We take into account the topography and climate, of course, but also the uses, particularly of public space, and the income available. This inevitably means distancing ourselves from the main models developed to date, which are more Northern European in inspiration. The needs are simply not the same.