Colliers International's French arm, Colliers-UFG PM is considering opening a new office in Lille to expand its reach in the French property services market.
Colliers International's French arm, Colliers-UFG PM is considering opening a new office in Lille to expand its reach in the French property services market.
'We are looking into opening an office in Lille in the near future and we are studying the market where there is strong competition from local operators,' Britta Secretain-Guibout of Colliers UFG PM said in an interview with PropertyEU.
The company currently has offices in Paris, Lyon, Montpellier and Marseille, with smaller offices in Brittany, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Strassbourg, and is mostly active in property management and real estate consultancy.
Commenting on the French commercial real estate sector, Secretain-Guibout said that the investment market is expected to report around EUR 10 bn of total transactions this year, up from EUR 7.6 bn in 2009. This compares to an investment volume of EUR 12 bn in 2008 and nearly EUR 30 bn in 2007.
The occupier market, which has been difficult over the course of 2009, is also showing some progress. 'The letting market is recovering with around 2 million m2 of take-up expected for the Paris region this year, which compares to around 1.6 million m2 in 2009,' she said.
The investment market continues to be dominated by core investments and risk-averse players while value-added and opportunistic ventures are constrained by lack of financing. On the sellers side, investment funds and SIICs have been driving the market as they continue to seek to de-leverage their businesses.
