Fonciere des Regions snaps up Tour Gan for EUR 486m

French property group Fonciere des Regions said it has acquired the Gan office tower at Paris' business district La Defense for EUR 486 mln. La Tour Gan is being sold by insurance company Groupama. Built in 1974, the skyscraper is 187 meters high and provides some 64,500 m² of gross surface area over 49 storeys.

Fonciere des Regions said the building will remain occupied by Groupama until the end of March next year. Afterwards, it will be refurbished to become a 'new generation tower' with completion planned for 2010. Fonciere des Regions would not disclose the value of the investment needed for the renovation of the building, but told PropertyEU that the project will involve the refurbishing of the interior space, to enable the building to comply with high-environmental quality standards for office buildings. The project is in line with a major regeneration plan for La Défense district, which was launched at the end of last year by the EPAD (Etablissement Public pour l'Aménagement de La Défense), the organisation which manages the development of La Défense. The plan, covering an area of 160 hectares with 2 million m² of offices, includes the renovation of outdated buildings as well as the creation of 150,000 m² to 300,000 m² of new office space by 2013.

Earlier this year, Fonciere des Regions embarked on four other projects in the Paris region, as well as in Marseille and Metz. They include the renovation of the Carré Suffren, some 25,000 m² of offices next to the Eiffel Tower in a joint venture with Predica; and the construction of the 60,000 m² global headquarters for Dassault Systemes, in partnership with Morgan Stanley.