The Mimizan Plage development in the Landes region of France that comes to the Irish market this week is unusual for three reasons: it is right on the waterfront, the prices are relatively low and the entire 120-apartment complex is being marketed by an Irish-owned developer, France Residence Limited. Padraig Yeates reports.
It consists of one-bedroom apartments costing between €73,000 and €80,000, two-bedroom apartments at €99,000 to €100,000 and three-bedroom apartments at €115,000.
VAT of 19.6 per cent has to be added on but this is refundable once the deal is closed. Similar waterside schemes on the Côte d'Azur would cost double those amounts, or more.
There is no price differentiation based on location in the complex. It will be a case of first come first served when France Residence holds its exhibition at the Westbury hotel in Dublin on Saturday and Sunday.
The scheme is a leaseback arrangement with a guaranteed annual return of 5.85 per cent. Owners will receive a substantial discount in the order of 20 per cent for the weeks they choose to rent their own property. They can also avail of tax relief to offset mortgage interest against income.
What makes the development so attractive is its waterside location. Mimizan is a quiet resort halfway between Bordeaux and Biarritz. The site is currently a mix of open space and car-parking alongside the small beach at the mouth of the local river.
Literally around the corner are 40 kilometres of Landes beach stretching northwards in an unbroken line as far as Archachon and to the south they stretch another 56 kilometres to Bayonne and Biarritz. The location is ideal for those into water sports. There is also a year round swimming pool on the site.
They are not particularly spacious. The one-bedroom apartments are between 31.5 and 32 sq m (339-345 sq ft), the two-bedroom apartments are 43 sq m (463 sq ft) and the three-beds are 49 sq m (527 sq ft). But the ground floor apartments have gardens and the two upper storeys have balconies. All of the apartments are being sold fully furnished and with a car-parking space. France Residence is one of the success stories of the Franco-Irish property boom. The company is registered in Ireland but two of its three executive directors, Patrick Kinsella and Finbarr Callaly, are based in France while the third, Lewis Leith, is the anchor man here. Set up in May 2002, it expects to sell over 300 properties, including the Mimizan Plage complex in 2003.
