A Jewel with a Sunny Disposition

One reason I came to Nice this week was to attend the Annual Assembly of the “copropriété” (co-owner association) of the apartment we purchased earlier in the year that we call “Le Palais du Soleil.” This will be a Fractional Ownership property with 13 four-week annual shares we will soon have on the market.

The apartment is currently a one-bedroom/one-bathroom with separate kitchen that will become a two-bedroom/two-bathroom with open kitchen. It’s located on the corner of two pedestrian streets in the heart of the Carré d’Or a block from the beach and Promenade des Anglais where the values are increasing faster than any other street in Nice—rue Massenet (according to our most trusted agents, so we chose well!).

Currently, when you enter the apartment, the foyer with all its doors to the various rooms and closets, block the views from the balconies and the rounded corner windows. In our new floor plan, by architect Nicole Champagnol, every current wall will come down and be reordered to accommodate a spacious living room/dining room/kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms (one with shower, one with bathtub), separate toilet, laundry closet and lots of storage. When you enter, you will see everything immediately—a 180° view out the front balcony, side balcony (from which you have a view of the sea) and rounded corner windows!

Martine di Mattéo, our illustrious Parisian Interior Designer, is also here in Nice with us this week, working on our clients’ other projects as well as this one for me. Tuesday we met at the apartment with the contractor she has chosen to go over all the details of the project so that he can get started on the work this coming week. Our projected date of delivery is before the end of the year so that usage will start in January of 2023.

Martine and I have gone over the decor plans so that she can have simulations created of just what the apartment will look like when done, so that we can offer up these images to you and potential owners. Her designs, fabrics and Provençal colors are both beautiful and fun. We are sparing no expense to upgrade the apartment with new windows, new awnings, air-conditioning, new everything (!), but also we’re bringing in mosaic artist Véronique Husson to do special tile work in the bathrooms and kitchen. It will be a jewel with a very sunny disposition. It will be missing nothing!

The annual meeting of the co-owners was its usual torturous self. It almost doesn’t matter which meeting you attend for any property in France—they all have the same characteristics. They always last way longer than they need to because the owners can discuss one topic until it is completely exhausted. There is always one person who complains about everything. In this case it was a gentleman who even brought a stack of color photos of things that had been left in a storage room that he wanted emptied and cleaned, because he thought they were “dangerous” being near the electricity panel. (Everything he talked about was “dangerous” for some reason.) There is always one person who needs to be in charge as if they own the building and comments on everything. She was there. As was the busy body who knows everyone and everything going on in the building. She was there, too.

I left the meeting at the two-hour mark when all the important issues were exhausted, as was I, who had only one question: which mailbox was ours? What I learned—1.5 hours into the meeting—was that they had previously voted to replace the old mailboxes with new ones this year, so it no longer matters that we don’t know which mailbox is ours nor the fact that we have no key. This will work itself out all in due time, and in time for taking possession January 2023. The only other topic of any concern was a need to create more security by adding a locked door to separate the double entry from each of the elevators, which are positioned on two sides of the building.

Nice is clearly our hottest spot in France. We have many more clients purchasing property in Nice than in Paris, now. Property is scarce and moving off the market very quickly. As a result, prices are going up as I write this. It would make your head spin, but that’s a good sign that an investment in Nice will be well worth it.

At the same time, getting mortgages for property in Paris is getting tougher because, believe it or not, the banks are lacking the personnel needed to process the files. But, in Nice it’s way less of an issue and loans are being granted more easily.

You can’t get a loan in France to buy a fraction of Le Palais du Soleil, but you won’t need it. The shares will be priced at well under 90,000€ and therefore quite affordable. When we finalize the details and offer it on the market, those on our special mailing list will have the first crack at the shares (sold on a first-come, first-serve basis), so don’t hesitate to be on the list…

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A bientôt,