AS NICE PREPARES to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its becoming part of France, the powers that be have begun digging into their €120 million budget for the embellishment and redevelopment of the port of Nice.
The primary objective is to link the port, which is somewhat cut off from the rest of the city on the eastern side of the rocky outcrop of Colline du Château, to the main promenade which borders the Baie des Anges.
Redevelopment work started on Monday and will continue into 2011. Values of properties in the Riviera have fallen by 5–10 per cent because of the world economic crisis, but agents in Nice expect that those around the port should improve in about two years’ time, when the crisis is over and the port redevelopment is complete.
In earlier times, boats weighed anchor off Les Ponchettes, a small cove on the other side of the Colline du Château, a few steps from the hustle and bustle of the flower and food markets in the Cours Saleya. On the shore where fishermen used to spread out their nets to dry, tourists now dry off in the sun at Castel Plage.
Construction of the new port was agreed in Turin by King Charles Emmanuel III in 1749. Nice and its county belonged to the Duchy of Savoy whose dukes had hankered after a royal title for some time; an earlier duke had captured Sicily, was made to give it back and, in 1720, got Sardinia in exchange, which seems reasonable. Nice, Savoy, Piedmont and the island of Sardinia now formed a single political entity – the Duchy of Savoy and Kingdom of Sardinia with its capital in Turin.
But things didn’t move so fast in those days. In 1860, when Nice and its county were joined to France (hardline nationalists would say annexed), things started to speed up. The large basin with its majestic steps was completed in 1897.
Various commercial enterprises linked to the economic activity of the port came into being. Facilities were built for oil and coal storage and food and tobacco manufacture. From then on, the Lympia port maintained its role as the economic lung of the city based on its three activities: industry, pleasure boats and the liaison with Corsica.
It’s a lovely port. The Lympia basin is always full of boats of all shapes and sizes – from gleaming streamlined multi-million euro floating palaces to colourful small fishing boats bringing in their daily catch from clear azure waters off the rocks.
The old town is a short stroll away, just the other side of the Colline du Château (don’t look for the chateau, Louis XIV’s troops razed it to the ground in 1705/1706). If you walk up the rue Cassini you’ll come to the recently renovated place Garibaldi where the Luas-like tram now passes. The city has an excellent bus system with a flat fare of €1.
The port is also the city’s antique and second-hand centre and Les Puces de Nice takes place on the quay, while there are plenty of shops for browsing in, in the streets above and in the rue Cassini.
The first phase of the redevelopment, which will cost €7.8 million, started on Monday. The third and final phase begins in 2011.
The overall aim of the redevelopment is to restore the port as a residential area which pedestrians can easily stroll around. To this end, all parking will be underground – at the conclusion of the project, there will be 1,000 underground parking spaces, around 300 more than exist today.
Pedestrians, cyclists and roller-bladers will have an uninterrupted run around the Bay of Angels from the airport to the port via the Promenade des Anglais, the Quai des Etats-Unis, and round the Rauba Capeù point. Pavements will be created on the basin side, and traffic will be a one-way system. The final stage will be a lighting plan of the entire port area to highlight building façades and improve public security.
Apart from the obvious attractions of a port – water and boats – what makes the port so special is the architecture which has little to do with Provençe and a lot to do with Piedmont.
The majority of buildings date from the 19th century and were built in the traditional Niçois style of unadorned façades painted in gorgeous shades of ochre from aïoli yellow to rusty rouille; both delicious sauces which accompany fish soup. The appealing symmetrical layout of the place Ile de Beauté is thanks to the Consiglio d’Ornato urban town planning agency in the 1830s.
Old, of course, usually means no lift, balcony not terrace, and no garage – so the car-parking spaces being created by the redevelopment could benefit car owners in the area.
Port prices have always been governed by one thing only – the view. Currently, prices per square metre vary from €5,000 to €8,000 with prices rising as you move up a building.
For €370,000, you can pick up a one-bedroom 50sq m (538sq m) apartment with a second floor view of the port across to the Mont Alban (through Vizcaya Real Estate).
And a two-bedroom 120sq m (1,291sq ft) apartment on the third floor of a five-floor 1850s building, with picture postcard views across the Lympia Basin to the Colline, can be yours for €898,000 (through Agence Miramar Immobilier).
Should you prefer the more tranquil setting of due south-facing boulevard Franck Pilatte, on the eastern side of the port, you’ll need to dig a bit deeper into your pocket. Here, you can walk along the coastal path to the Cap de Nice, sunbathe on the rocks or at one of the three tiny natural sandy beaches and dine at restaurants with wonderful views.
Last year, Félicette Tordo at Agence Miramar Immobilier sold a 90sq m (968.7sq ft) apartment in need of total renovation for €950,000.
The residential buildings constructed nearby in the 1960s don’t have the charm of those around the port but they do have wide terraces and garage parking. Prices start at €6,000 per sq m rising to €12,000 per sq m for top floor apartments.
Tordo welcomes the new mayor’s initiative and also the decision to reduce the number of large cruise liners entering the port of Nice, which is destined to become primarily a marina.
Patrick de Mersseman at Vizcaya Real Estate feels that the renovation of the port has already been partly reflected in current market values for port-side properties. The real increase will come, he believes, in the value of properties in adjacent streets.
And Jean-Louis Bastide of Bastide Immobilier believes that prices in the port will rise in about two years’ time, when the economic crisis is past and the disruption of redevelopment work is over.
In spite of these major works, there will be no extension or modification of the fundamental structures of the port. What you see now, is what you’ll get – only prettier and more pedestrian friendly.
- Agence Miramar Immobilier www.miramarimmo.com
- Vizcaya Real Estate www.vizcaya.fr
- Bastide Immobilier www.bastideimmobilier.com
