PARIS-French REIT/SIIC Altarea Cogedim has launched themarketing of a major Paris residential and office development,Paris 7 Rive Gauche, on the site of the former Laennec hospital,which dates back to 1632. The project involves the renovation ofthe 4-hectare site, which originally cost Altarea $1 billion. Thebuilding has been unoccupied since 2000 when the hospital movedout.

The listed historical buildings, owned by German insurerAllianz, will be converted into 185,000 square feet of offices,while more recent buildings will be demolished to make way for newresidential units. Twelve new residential buildings will beconstructed, offering 191 units over 175,000 square feet. There arealso plans for 80 social housing units, a student residence, a homefor the elderly and 48,000 square feet of shops.

Altarea Cogedim, primarily an owner of shopping centres, hastaken 10 years to achieve permission to develop the site, followinga series of setbacks. Demolition will start in July, withconstruction beginning in first quarter 2011, and completionscheduled for 2013. The group said the project will be one of themost important real estate operations for 50 years in the Frenchcapital's prestigious 7th arrondissement, and confirms its capacityfor projects in all its asset classes - residential, office andretail. Founded in 1994 by Alain Taravella, the group had aportfolio of $2.9 billion at end-2009. It acquired residentialproperty developer Cogedim in 2007, and Cogedim's market share hasincreased 65% since then.