Nice Grand Ouest development plan, Digi Mart USA News (Nice, France): At a roundtable hosted by the Club Éco of Nice-Matin at the Radisson Nice Aéroport on the theme “Nice Grand Ouest – the tertiary hub of the future: international, sustainable and connected,” Pierre Ippolito, deputy mayor of Nice and vice-president of the Métropole responsible for developing the Var plain, described the area as one of the last major land reserves in the Alpes-Maritimes.
“This is the most strategic location to develop in France,” Ippolito said. “Name me 50 hectares in a French metropolis, 300 meters from the airport, a TGV station, a tramway and a motorway.
I don’t know of any. We have a huge challenge and cannot afford to get it wrong; our vision must extend at least 50 to 60 years.”
He said the area already has nearly 4,000 jobs and more than 40 hectares remain to be developed. “Our engine is no longer the agri-food industry of the 1950s and 1960s; it is tourism and the tertiary sector,” he said.
According to Ippolito, the transformation over about a decade depends on relocating the Marché d’intérêt national (MIN) wholesale market to La Baronne in Saint-Jeannet, which would clear the way for a convention and exhibition center. He said the procedure is underway, that numerous applications have been received, and that the city hopes to keep its target of around 2030.
The planned facility would cover between 20,000 and 40,000 square meters and accommodate 3,000 to 5,000 delegates, with a high-end annex at the Port of Nice linked by tramway.
On transport, Ippolito said the financing plan for the new rail line has been validated and co-financed by the State, local authorities and the Region. He said work has begun and that a TGV station is expected in 2029, which would become the future main Nice station rather than Thiers station.
He stressed the importance of the airport, calling it the economic lung of the area, and said the district’s pedestrian connections still need to be built, including tunnels or footbridges under the railway, clear signage and public displays of flight and train information.
Looking at evening activity, Ippolito said residents, beyond higher-income groups, can hardly eat out in the city center anymore, and that new leisure nightlife should be located in the western district. In the short term, he is counting on 385 planned student housing units, which he said would be enough to sustain a bakery, and said the area must create assets, local consumption and eventually become a destination.
