Arles, capital of culture

With a surface area of 187,455 acres, Arles is the largest commune in metropolitan France. Situated between Nîmes and Marseille, this town over 2,500 years old enjoys a very pleasant life-style blending traditions and modernity. It boasts an international cultural aura, which will receive a boost from the prestigious Luma Foundation, to open its doors in 2018.

Culture here is a real driving force, and the most well informed foresee an economic up-swing fuelled by the town’s artistic projects. Swiss-German billionaire Maja Hoffmann has set her sights on Arles. This passionate art-lover decided to create an international contemporary art centre here. The Luma Foundation (a contraction of the names of her two children, Lucas and Marina) will be a cultural complex in the form of a gigantic building covered in titanium with irregular facets, designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry. Surrounded by a campus playing host to a public park, shops, artists’ residences and office premises, this tower 56 metres high is scheduled for completion in 2018.

“Repercussions from the Luma Foundation are already being felt on the property market,” says Eloïse Garnier, an English-speaking professional who recently decided to take over the management of the Agence du Pays d’Arles member of the group Les Agences des Alpilles. “The town is booming at cultural level. It is attracting more and more buyers fond of the arts, especially from the UK, who naturally feel more confident with an English-speaking estate-agent, especially as we provide A-to-Z assistance rather than just handling the sale,” explains this great fan of Arles, who selects properties of charm and character for her agency. “Our clientele is comprised of foreigners in search of a pied à terre in the historic centre or a stone “mas” on the immediate outskirts, investors looking for apartments in good locations, to put them on the market for seasonal rentals once they have been furnished, and a few young buyers fond of the life-style offered by the town centre. There are lots of availabilities, and each property in the old centre has its own price, depending on its location and assets, such as a terrace or view.” By way of example, Eloïse Garnier mentions recent sales of two properties in the old centre, both offering living space of 65 m2. The first sold for 1,500 € per sqm, the second for 4,000 € per sqm. Just as highly-prized, town houses of about 100 m2 benefiting from terraces can be envisaged from 250,000 to 300,000 €, while on the immediate outskirts to the west, lovely old “mas” cost around 600,000 €, pretty villas to the east about 500,000 €.

Most people looking for permanent residences are, however, members of the local working population, usually aiming for a pleasant family home. On this front, Arles comes up against competition from neighbouring communes proposing lower property taxes. “A small house on an estate priced at around 2,100 per sqm, ideal for households with budgets of 200,000 €, is the property the most widely sought-after by local families,” says Florian Escoffier, manager of the Agence Logela launched in 2013 on the neighbouring commune of Saint-Martin-de-Crau. He mentions a 3-bedroomed house of 85 m2 with a garden of 370 m2, facing full south. Situated south of Arles, it is up for sale at 209,000 €. “Buyers with modest budgets are nevertheless confronted by a limited number of offerings, especially as building land will remain virtually non-existent in the area while we wait for the PLU 2017.” More and more demanding, clients turn their noses up at properties in need of renovation, or subject to noise. As for local investors, they are actively searching for properties bringing a return of over 7%, like a 1-room apartment of 31 m2 rented out at 400 € per month, which just sold for 65,000 €.