Client: APS Select Yellow News Source: The Sunday Times (Scotland) Date: 30/12/2018 Page: 26 Reach: 49089 Value: 51509.76 GOING UP IN THE WORLD French ski resorts are racing ahead, with a blizzard of new homes, lifts and infrastructure. By Sean Newsom here’s nothing like a crane or two of the 1980s”. swinging over a ski resort to show What’s going on? For several years, the that it’s putting on a growth spurt. more ambitious French ski areas have T And this summer, in Val d’Isère, been engaged in a race to the top, invest- there were nearly 20 of them. ing heavily in infrastructure in a bid to “Val d’Isère has le vent en poupe,” says raise their profiles in a crowded market- Romain Dadat, who represents Knight place. Le Refuge de Solaise is among the Frank estate agency in the French resort. most eye-catching developments so far. The phrase means it has “the wind in its So, too, is Courchevel’s £57m indoor water sails”, and when you see the range of park, Aquamotion, which opened in 2015. projects, it’s hard to argue. A new lift, Now a new wave of property devel– luxury chalets, a five-star hotel, boutique opers is on the way. “In the past four developments of chic apartments: all years, we’ve seen the arrival of several were being built in the off season this mainstream residential specialists from year, before the cranes came down for cities such as Lyons and Grenoble,” says the start of winter. François Marchand, managing director To crown it all, overlooking the valley, of Erna Low Property. “Obviously, local the oldest cable-car station in France is mayors are more than keen to have this being converted into a groundbreaking kind of power behind them when it mix of luxury hotel and mountain hostel comes to improving their resorts.” called Le Refuge de Solaise. Much of the Combined with a general ebullience complex will be open to the skiing public, in the wider French property market — too. Next winter, when it’s finished, you’ll in the past 12 months, sales volumes for be able to click out of your skis and go for BEATRICE PREVE/ALAMY existing properties have reached levels a splash in its 23-metre pool — all at the not seen since the early Noughties — this lofty altitude of 2,551 metres. has created a new willingness to build. Val isn’t the only French resort to see For anyone looking for a second home in a sudden surge in activity. Méribel, Alpe the French Alps, it’s an exciting time. d’Huez, Courchevel, Les Gets and Vau- jany are among the many villages where there has been a significant increase in VAL D’ISERE building projects — often accompanied The building boom here has been so by the upgrading of lifts, pistes and vigorous that it has brought complaints other facilities. Athena Advisers, which from existing owners and an intervention specialises in French mountain pro- by the regional government in Grenoble. perties, describes this as “the largest Last month, an administrative tribunal amount of development we’ve seen in annulled the town’s new development the French Alps since the building boom blueprint (plan local d’urbanisme). Pro- fh 1 Coverage is reproduced under license from the NLA, CLA or other copyright owner. No further +44 (0) 20 7264 4700 copying (including the printing of digital cuttings) digital reproductions or forwarding is permitted except under license from the NLA, http://www.nla.co.uk (for newspapers) CLA [email protected] http://www.cla.co.uk (for books and magazines) or other copyright body. www.kantarmedia.com Client: APS Select Yellow News Source: The Sunday Times (Scotland) Date: 30/12/2018 Page: 26 Reach: 49089 Value: 51509.76 jects under construction will be com- resorts, which were already engaged in a pleted, but the rest will probably have to process of regeneration. So anyone in be resubmitted for planning approval, search of a ski property that’s close to the with stricter controls on safety and the racing — as well as the largest properly use of agricultural and forested land. interconnected ski area in the world — The move is unlikely to dent demand will have plenty of options. In the mid- for a place that has long been a favourite mountain village of Courchevel 1550, for with British skiers. It’s not just the example, refurbished one-bedroom flats thrilling pistes and social cachet that pull in the ski-in, ski-out Le Phoenix develop- us in: unusually for a French resort in ment start at €610,000 (020 7471 4500, the Alps, Val d’Isère gets substantial athenaadvisers.com). Erna Low Property amounts of snow from storms that brew has newly built two-bedders at L’Hévana, in both the Atlantic and the Med. Along in central Méribel, for €538,750 (020 with a powerful snow-making system, 7590 1624, ernalowproperty.com). and pistes that rise well above 3,000 metres, Val now has a snowsure reputa- tion that’s a priceless asset in an era of cli- ALPE D’HUEZ AND VAUJANY mate change. South of Grenoble, all eyes are on the No wonder, then, that the swankiest planned link between the resorts of Alpe new-build penthouses and chalets in the d’Huez and Les Deux Alpes: an eye- resort can cost €32,000 (£29,000) a sq popping £54m gondola that will bridge metre: as expensive as any in the Alps. the 3km divide across the Romanche Only a handful of properties in the Valley. Subject to planning approval, centre of the resort achieve this kind of work will begin in 2020 or 2021. price, but none is cheap. Take the Rési- On both sides of the valley, the sense dence Staval, on the main road into the of renewal is already palpable. Next to village and a short shuttle-bus ride from Alpe d’Huez, in the satellite village of Vau- the lifts. A roomy three-bedroom flat jany, five apartment schemes are newly with richly textured wood panelling and built, under construction or about to plenty of sound insulation costs €1.2m break ground. A three-bedroom flat in through Knight Frank (020 7861 1727, the new Edelweiss development, a short knightfrank.com). And in Le Fornet, at walk from the lifts, costs €410,000 (00 33 the far end of the valley, the five-bedroom 4 72 14 66 50, terressens.com). Chalet Petite Etoile — which has a pool, a Alpe d’Huez itself has set aside €200m cinema room and a giant open-plan living to upgrade its stock of accommodation room — is on the market for €5.2m, also and has just added a music festival to its through Knight Frank. season — the first winter edition of the Belgian dance extravaganza Tomorrow- land, which is expected to attract 30,000 COURCHEVEL AND MERIBEL revellers (March 13-15; tomorrowland. In 2023, Courchevel and Méribel will com). The last one-bedroom apartment co-host the Alpine World Ski Champion- at the ski-in, ski-out Hameau de Clotaire ships — the biggest event in the skiing development, which has a pool, costs calendar after the Winter Olympics. It’s €478,000, off-plan, with completion due the first time two resorts have organised in the last quarter of 2019 (020 7471 4500, the biennial event — and it will renew two athenaadvisers.com). neglected corners of the Three Valleys ski area. Above Méribel, the Roc de Fer sector, LES GETS which will host the women’s races, is It’s not only skiers who want to buy in being re-equipped with two new lifts the French Alps. Mountain-bikers love it and two new pistes at a cost of £13.5m. In as well — and, thanks to its world-class Courchevel, a new race course will be bike park (and a short drive time from laid out that finishes at the bottom of the Geneva airport), Les Gets is one of their ski area in Le Praz. It will be served by a favourite resorts. new high-speed gondola. This is a decent base for skiers, with All this has further energised the two the Portes du Soleil lift system offering ll d f l d 2 Coverage is reproduced under license from the NLA, CLA or other copyright owner. No further +44 (0) 20 7264 4700 copying (including the printing of digital cuttings) digital reproductions or forwarding is permitted except under license from the NLA, http://www.nla.co.uk (for newspapers) CLA [email protected] http://www.cla.co.uk (for books and magazines) or other copyright body. www.kantarmedia.com Client: APS Select Yellow News Source: The Sunday Times (Scotland) Date: 30/12/2018 Page: 26 Reach: 49089 Value: 51509.76 an excellent midwinter mix of tree-lined pistes and freeride terrain, but the season is shorter in Les Gets than in the high-altitude resorts, so it’s really a place for those who enjoy summer as much as winter. When it comes to property, buyers are spoilt for choice. An upcoming pause in development means several schemes have been rushed forward for approval — Erna Low Property has seven projects on its books, including the Résidence Stella. This upmarket new-build is close to the lifts and the pistes, but off the main road. One-bedders start at €309,000 (020 7590 1624, ernalowproperty.com). A new wave of property developers is piling in. For anyone in the market for a second home in the French Alps, it’s an exciting time 3 Coverage is reproduced under license from the NLA, CLA or other copyright owner.