Clearwater has advised Bouygues Immobilier, the real estate developer, on the creation of the Geophoros 1 vehicle (Geophoros) and associated fundraising, backed by Omnes Capital (Omnes).
The Geophoros vehicle enables the financing of land conversion until a building permit has been obtained, before the development phase, over a period of two to four years. The aim is to "rebuild the city on the city" to prevent the artificialisation of land, improve urban biodiversity, and produce low-carbon housing.
Geophoros will target unused or degraded areas of wasteland, industrial premises, and polluted land, across the country’s 10 main metropolises, those with increasing demographics and jobs creation (Lyon, Toulouse, Greater Paris, Lille, Rennes, Nantes, Grenoble Alpes, Bordeaux, Aix-Marseille Provence, and Montpellier Méditerranée). It is indeed in these urban areas that the lack of land is the most problematic and that the need for low-carbon housing units becomes imperative.
Geophoros will have an investment capacity of €100m, which will enable the construction of 2,000 homes, and target the acquisition of intermediate-sized properties of €5-15m.
