Les Carmes, an historic neighbourhood in Toulouse
By Laetitia Rossi - 07 May 2013
Once crossed by the Roman “cardo”, or north-south thoroughfare, Les Carmes is laid out around an old market-hall and convent, since transformed into a market and outdoor car-park. The Rue des Filatiers, a main road running through the area, still bears the traces of the Pink City’s legal past, while Les Couteliers and Apollinaire recall its history in arts and crafts.
This site on the right bank of the Garonne River gives priority to bars and restaurants, with the covered food market is a popular attraction six days a week. On the outskirts of the hyper-centre, Les Carmes has retained attributes inherited from medieval times. It took its present form in the 15th century, and its housing dates back to the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Intimate co-owned residences rub shoulders with private mansions boasting generous interior volumes and inner courtyards, and half-timbered houses not lacking in charm. The urban style is for bricks and paving, and the mixture of styles, boutiques and other establishments give the neighbourhood its slightly middle-class/ Bohemian character. Executives, senior citizens and students are fond of this part of Toulouse with a very congenial atmosphere. Les Carmes benefits from public transport, though driving and parking one’s own car is more difficult. A disadvantage partly resolved by car-parks, as long as one is prepared to pay the price.
“The market and gourmet grocers’ shops are highly appreciated,” say Chantal Puech and Charles Catugier of the Agence Via on Rue Pharaon, not far from the Place des Carmes, facing L’Annexe, a well-known bar serving “tapas”. “The main streets in the neighbourhood are very lively in the evenings. The squares - Place des Carmes, Place Rouaix and Place du Salin - together with the nearby Quai de Tounis and the Jardin des Plantes complete the urban picture.” Line B of the metro serves this “village within the town”. Formerly middle-class, it is now much livelier, and the type of housing available is extremely diverse. All different sizes, all different styles, from pure 17th century to Haussmann architecture on wider streets. Private mansions still in one piece are hard to find. Those interested in this type of accommodation fall back on vast apartments. Such as one example of 235 m2 in perfect condition in an 18th-C. building, with a garage and painted ceilings 4.5 metres high, acquired by an aerospace engineer for 1.2 million euros. Retirees mainly look for apartments with 2/3 main rooms, lifts and preferably parking places, rare commodities in old buildings, priced at over 4,000 € per sq. metre. A few investors and parents of students then set their sights on long-term assets rather than an immediate yield, which does not exceed 4 %, as high acquisition prices cannot be passed on to rental prices. One fly in the ointment is, however, the fact that Les Carmes is no longer on the school map of the Fermat intermediate and secondary schools. A fact regretted by clients transferred to the town and looking for a good education for their children.
“The combination of a lift, parking place and terrace is seen as a privilege which is inevitably reflected in a property’s price,” say Frédérique Julien and Jean-Pierre Corazza of Ozenne Immobilier, an independent agency based in one of the most sought-after parts of Toulouse. Offering all three amenities, apartments with 2 or 3 main rooms sell without any difficulty at prices close on 5,000 €/m2, as soon as they come with high-quality appointments. However, large surface areas pegged above 1 million euros are struggling to find takers. They are faced by competition from houses or other more affordable neighbourhoods in the centre. Les Carmes is pretty much comparable to Saint-Etienne, Saint-Georges and the Jardin des Plantes, in terms of both settings and prices. Overall, demand outstrips supply in Les Carmes, a situation partly explained by sellers of villas on the outskirts with heavy maintenance requirements, wanting to get
closer to the heart of town.