Hervé Granier, Mayor of Gardanne and Chairman of the SEMAG, Renaud Muselier, President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region, President of Régions de France and Richard Curnier, Regional Director of the Banque des Territoires, inaugurated the launch of work on a business and services centre at the Pôle Yvon Morandat in Gardanne, in the presence of Bruno Cassette, sub-prefect of the district of Aix-en-Provence, Gérard Bramoullé, First Vice-President of the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, Olivier Sichel, Director of the Banque des Territoires and Luc Bouvet, Regional Director of Eiffage Construction.
The conversion of the 14 hectares of the Puits Yvon Morandat into an economic, energy and cultural centre, the first eco-district business park in France, carried out by SEMAG on behalf of the City of Gardanne and the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis with the support of the Southern Region, is continuing. This Friday 2 April 2021 marks the start of construction of three new buildings with a total surface area of 6,000 sqm awarded to Eiffage Immobilier, with delivery scheduled for the end of 2022.
To bring this project to life, SEMAG and Banque des Territoires have created SAS PYM, 60% and 40% owned respectively, to acquire two buildings to be constructed at the entrance to the site. These two units will offer a high quality rental service for the region's VSEs. In addition to the buildings acquired by SAS PYM, a third building, owned by Eiffage Immobilier, is being offered for sale by the piece for users who wish to become owners. Services useful to the cluster's companies will complete the offer: concierge service, catering, sports hall. Built as a general contractor by Eiffage Construction and in close collaboration with SAS PYM, the project also aims to integrate a virtuous and committed design from an environmental and energy point of view, in particular with bioclimatic and efficient buildings. An additional tranche of approximately 6,000m2 is already being studied.
The Yvon Morandat Centre places renewable energy and geothermal energy at the heart of its project to develop an intelligent, communicating and innovative energy network. Thanks to the reuse of the mining galleries to ensure an energy supply by geothermal energy, this site has become the first activity centre in France including industrial activity to be awarded the eco-district label. It has also been awarded the "Quartier Durable Méditerranée" (Mediterranean Sustainable Neighbourhood) Gold level label. In addition to the funding provided for geothermal energy, the Southern Region and the Metropolis have also contributed to the rehabilitation of the business centre buildings.
Today, it houses 25 companies and 250 employees, and 80% of the space has already been sold to industrial and service companies.
Congratulations to our teams and partners for this great step!