Atisreal establishes Orange in Val d'Europe

Following recommendations made by Atisreal, the leading French business real-estate transaction facilitator, Orange has established its new call centre inside a brand new building in Val d’Europe. Some of the many reasons guiding their choice were transport services, location, quality of life and attractive rents. François Chauvey, Associate Director with Atisreal, tells us more.

To begin with, a few words about Atisreal? Atisreal is a BNP Paribas Immobilier subsidiary that specialises in real estate transactions, expertise and consulting. With 550 employees and a turnover in excess of €150m, we are number one in terms of transactions in France. Every year, we close something in the order of 2,900 deals and we manage a 3.7 million sq. m. total surface area in offices, business property and logistics centres. I personally manage the North-eastern department which carries out 200 operations yearly throughout 6 Paris arrondissements and its North-Eastern suburbs.

Why did you recommend Val d’Europe to Orange?

Because it had all the right conditions. First off, take the location: served by the RER A train line, Val d’Europe is within easy reach for employees coming from Saint-Maur, Bagnolet, Maisons-Alfort, Boissy-Saint-Léger, Torcy etc. Besides, it provides a vital quality of life and of working environment: local shopping, a pleasant, modern setting. Then there is the building: new and therefore efficient, very attractive in terms of cost, the Antares Building provides all guarantees. As far as Orange was concerned, the choice was made quickly and unanimously.

Tell us more about this building, the “Antares”.

The Antares is located in Chessy, right by the Val d’Europe RER train station. It has 9,600 sq. m. in all, including a share already taken by Société Générale. For its part, Orange has got 3,800 sq. m., laid out into vast, open-plan facilities. The operator needed to carry out a few adjustments in layout and equipment, but the Antares already boasted fine features: perfect soundproofing and air-conditioning, broadband connectivity etc. The only thing missing was a staff canteen, to be built shortly.

Do you have other projects in Val d’Europe and Marne-la-Vallée?

We have just signed 850 sq. m. in the Antares with the Advanced School of Aeronautical Trades (ESMA). Based in Montpellier, ESMA was looking for a place that could host 85 trainee students, and located half-way from both airports… I should also mention the Copernic II, the foremost building in Noisy-le-Grand that we regularly present to major users in Ile-de-France. Besides that, we have numerous projects in the making with Bouygues, Vinci, Lazard, GA etc. Marne-la-Vallée is a dynamic area, with significant hosting capacity for the next 24 months.

Isn’t the new town’s sustainable development image a real asset?

Yes it is, for eco-citizenship is gaining ground. Throughout 2009, businesses will seek to streamline and reduce costs while remaining very demanding about quality. Nowadays, what has the edge is environmental performance, as well as new, well-located buildings. Once an area boasts such features, with average rents that are half what they are in the capital, it becomes an obvious choice for a great many users…