Prestige apartments in Aix-en-Provence

Radia Amar - 27 February 2017

Two hours 40 minutes on the TGV from Paris, the historic capital of Provence has preserved noble apartments and prestigious private mansions from its illustrious past, much to the liking of a wealthy Parisian clientele. Mostly to be found in the highly-prized Mazarin neighbourhood, these prestige properties are sometimes renovated with real splendour.

“For our Parisian clientele, the property synonymous with a prestigious apartment in Aix-en-Provence is without doubt the bourgeois apartment in a town mansion in the Mazarin neighbourhood, in the historic centre,” explains Véronica Fougues of the Barnes Provence-Littoral agency. Pegged on average at around 7,000 € per sq. metre, these properties of character boasting noble old features such as parquet floors and high moulded ceilings post “reasonable” prices as compared to those in Paris. “Our clients have often sold their houses in Paris while keeping a pied-à-terre there. When they retire, many of them want to make their permanent home the historic centre of Aix, renowned for its art of living and the quality of its cultural life. Furthermore, investing here guarantees a sound long-term investment. It is not rare that our clients invest up to 9,000 € per sq. metre. if the property meets their requirements,” adds Véronica Fougues, mentioning, for example, a beautiful apartment of 155 m2 in need of renovation, which recently sold for 950,000 €. “Smaller surface areas are of more interest to rental investors, while very large apartments, such as a superb renovated example of 300 m2 with 6 main rooms, on offer at 2.3 M €, take longer to find buyers.” Fans of more contemporary properties appreciate the hills north of town, especially the Saint-Donat area where quality residences offer apartments with A-category energy ratings, prolonged by vast terraces. One such property of 147 m2 with a terrace of 120 m2 offering a view of Les Pinchinats just sold for 5,700 € per sqm, including two box-garages.

“Although a few recent examples can be looked upon as prestige properties, such as one apartment of 240 m2 benefiting from a huge terrace on the top floor of a 1970’s residence, offering a plunging view of the Place de la Rotonde (sold for around 1 M €), the most luxurious apartments in Aix are still those in the Mazarin neighbourhood,” says Ludivine Coulomb of Sotheby’s Realty. Sought-after by a mixed clientele comprised of working or retired Parisians and north Europeans, this noble, stylish address is sometimes the subject of love at first sight. As witnessed by a property of 140 m2 extended by a large terrace - an extremely rare feature for this type of historic building -, up for sale at around 900,000 €.” Most of the private mansions have been split up, though we can occasionally offer a few entire buildings. We have just handled the sale of a fine historic address, acquired by a Belgian client for around 4 M €,” says Ludivine Coulomb, whose portolio is not lacking in outstanding apartments. Another example is a split-level apartment of 370 m2 on the ground floor of an 18th-C. building. Treated to high-spec renovation, this property with a garden of 400 m2 facing full south, not far from the Town-hall, is up for sale at approx. 3 M €. “It is hard to define how long it takes to sell. Such properties occasionally find takers within just two weeks, sometimes they stay on the market for several months. What’s for sure is that they are indeed blue-chip investments.”