By announcing the CGIS transfer, in the MIPIM, on the French Riviera, the former CGE turned the page of several big cases that had resulted in a loss of over 2 billion francs.
It was one of the news of the MIPIM, the International Market of the Property Professionals, that ended on Saturday, March 11th, in Cannes. The announce of the CGIS transfer, the Vivendi property pole, at the deposit Office and at LBO France, a venture capital company, surprised the property circle. Certaintly, when he gave the definition of the new strategy of the group, three years ago, Jean-Marie Messier had announced he would separate from his property activities, strongly shaken up in the early 90's.
Cannes and the Siagne valley
But the surprise came from the fact that Vivendi did not keep any interest. Thus, 95% of the CGIS were sold, and the last 5% were attributed to a firm bringing together about ten executive managers. For the French Riviera, this was a page, widely open to the late 80's and to the early 90's, that closed.
The real-estate agency Phénix had been present, in particular, in the property cases of Cannes and Mandelieu, two cases that had resulted in losses of over 2 billion francs. In Cannes, Phénix had put a lot into two operations that were supposed to allow a conversion of the Industrial Estate of La Bocca, thanks to the building of a mediapole, of two thousand hotel rooms on the seaside and of accommodation; the building of a luxury hotel with a casino, in the Palm Beach.
Severe losses
In Mandelieu, Phénix took part to the renewal of the city centre and, especially, it had launched great property acquisitions in the whole valley of the Siagne. In the late 80's, managed by Christian Pellerin, the man for the defence, the plan was then about creating an enterprise and housing zone, turned towards the space sector from the existing pole of the Alcatel establishment, the first European builder of satellite. Then, more than three million square metres of floor were considered. As much as the Defence, in Paris…
As much as big cases that did not come off. The Urban Development Zone in West Cannes, launched by Michel Mouillot, the Cannes Mayor at that time, became totally impossible to realize from 1992, when the property market collapsed. Moreover, the Siagne floods and, the SDAU freezing (Directing Outline of Improvement and Town planning) that had been decided because of flood dangers, announced a strong limitation of the building means and blocked any immediate plan.
An other problem of PPR ( Plan of Prevention of Risks) came up in a more sensitive way, in the Siagne valley, because the property acquisitions of Phénix (almost 1 billion francs) were till then areas where no building was permitted. As for the Palm Beach, after a long 'trench warfare' with the peninsula co-owners, the CGIS finally resold the Cannes Balnéaire company, the casino owner, to the Partouche group. It also suffered severe losses in that transaction.