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International investors and developers are becoming increasingly commonplace in some of Europe’s leading cities but the doors of the French capital are all but closed to outsiders.

That may be one explanation why there have been so few cranes in the city in the current cycle. While London has embraced international capital at a number of prime office locations and regeneration sites across the city, in Paris it is the home-grown players who call the shots.

A notable exception is US investor-developer Hines which is co-developing Hekla, a 76,000 m2 office tower at La Défense designed by Jean Nouvel. Three local giants dominate PropertyEU’s ranking of pipeline developments: Unibail-Rodamco, BNP Paribas and AXA Real Estate.

The former two are also well represented in our ranking for projects delivered in France between 2012-14, with BNP Paribas taking second place overall.

Speculative building
One of the developments currently under construction is Qu4drans – the largest speculative project in Greater Paris. The 86,000 m2 office complex is being developed by Hines Europe and is part of a major urban project located to the south of Paris in the 15th arrondissement where the future headquarters of the French Ministry of Defence will be located.

AXA Real Estate is financing the project, consisting of a total of four buildings, through its DV III fund. The first two assets of 20,000 m2 and 26,000 m2 are due to be delivered in October, with the remaining space scheduled for completion by 2017.

The site is a unique location in Paris, AXA Real Estate’s CEO Pierre Vaquier told PropertyEU. ‘It is a campus development located on a very large plot of land of some 15 hectares. A site of that magnitude provides the opportunity to create an urban environment. This district will become a 24/7 gateway city, that is what we take into account when selecting new development sites. We aim to create value that is beneficial for a living environment.’

Its French peer BNP Paribas Real Estate is also developing a major office project in Paris – Ecowest at Levallois-Perret – which was sold earlier this year to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) for €477 mln and is scheduled for completion in 2017. It is also working on two smaller office buildings in the French capital – 16 Italiens and Indochine – which are due to be completed by the same date.

After completing the Thales headquarters at its 18-hectare site in Vélizy-Meudon to the southwest of the city, French listed property giant Foncière des Régions is now also working on two new office development projects in Paris – Canopée and Opal. Meanwhile Unibail-Rodamco is involved in one of the most iconic new office developments in the current cycle – La Phare at La Défense. Totalling 125,000 m2, the new office tower known as the Lighthouse will cast the business district in a new light, both literally and figuratively.

French in London
Compared to London, however, the number of major office developments in Paris is anything but spectacular. Interestingly, both AXA Real Estate and BNP Paribas are development forces in London in their own right.

Earlier this year AXA Real Estate announced it had led an international consortium in the acquisition of the former Pinnacle site in the City of London. The partners plan to develop a new building at the site, located at 22 Bishopsgate, with developer Lipton Rogers.

AXA’s Vaquier conceded that there are not many big projects in Europe like the former Pinnacle, but there are many other types of development opportunities, he argued. ‘In Europe, there is still quite a large portfolio of hotels that require refurbishment or development and healthcare developments, those are the sort of situations we are interested in. We are very active in France, Belgium – particularly Brussels – Switzerland and Spain.’

In Spain, AXA Real Estate is buying land and looking for office and mixed-use projects in Madrid where working and living are combined.

Hotels and healthcare are also on the list, Vaquier said. ‘We are looking for developments that answer specific needs. In the healthcare sector, there is clearly a need for capital and this is a sector that is less crowded. At the same time, selecting the right business strategy and operator are key.’