Ivanhoé Cambridge signs a lease with Natixis for the entirety of approximately 90,000 m² (969,000 ft²)

Ivanhoé Cambridge, a real estate subsidiary of CDPQ (Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec), announces today that it has signed a lease with Natixis, the international financing, insurance, management and financial services banking arm of Groupe BPCE, France’s second-largest banking group, covering 100% of the total office space at the Tours DUO in Paris. Construction work is to start soon, with a move-in date projected for early 2021.

The signing of this lease just under four years before delivery of the towers confirms Ivanhoé Cambridge’s strength of vision for the office of the future and the city of tomorrow. It is a vision shared by the City of Paris, which originated the project.

Ivanhoé Cambridge President Bill Tresham said: “Construction of the Tours DUO stems from the city’s strong development vision. We have been very pleased to share that vision with our partners: Ateliers Jean Nouvel, the project architect; Hines France, the delegated contracting authority of DUO; and Vince, global player in construction and concession, which will handle construction. The DUO buildings will be outstanding iconic structures that will ultimately be a benchmark in innovation, creativity and user-accessible services.

“We are especially proud to be taking on this project with Natixis, a prestigious user. All spaces in DUO are leased, something unprecedented for a project set for delivery in 2020. This marketing success shows the attractiveness of DUO’s positioning and of its service offering. It confirms Ivanhoé Cambridge’s ability to meet the demanding needs of major users and its expertise in the global office market. It also highlights our ability to work closely with a world city like Paris in the long term on projects of international scope. Our historic partnership with Hines is again proving its soundness. This project shows the Paris market’s dynamism: within the city itself, there is plenty of room for smart, flexible and well-designed platforms that meet the latest environmental requirements.

“DUO also marks the success of a tightly knit team. DUO would never have been possible without the involvement of all the project’s partners, with their tremendous work in the last five years under the dynamic leadership of Meka Brunel, who in January 2017 took up new duties outside the group.”

This exceptional level of commercialization and the definitive nature of the building permit also allowed the signing of the deed of sale of Tours DUO between Ivanhoé Cambridge and SEMAPA, developer on behalf of the City of Paris of the ZAC Paris Rive Gauche (13th arrondissement).

Jean-Louis Missika, assistant to the Mayor of Paris in charge of urban planning, architecture, Greater Paris projects, economic development and attractiveness, declared: “DUO will be part of the urban vitality of ZAC Paris Rive Gauche in the city’s 13th arrondissement, about to welcome the headquarters of a major newspaper and the Station F startup campus (Halle Freyssinet), the largest innovation campus in the world. DUO will be a symbol of this district’s renewal, providing a true link between Paris and Ivry, and the new place of Greater Paris. The remarkable work by Ivanhoé Cambridge and Jean Nouvel, alongside the SEMAPA public development office and the City of Paris, will make DUO an iconic building in Paris. Parisians and tourists alike will be sure to make it a preferred destination.”

Jérôme Coumet, Mayor of the 13th arrondissement and President of SEMAPA declared: “These commitments are a formidable sign of confidence from the investors and the companies in these new territories of the 13th arrondissement.”

Norbert Cron, Chief Operating Officer of Natixis, added: “The choice of the Tours DUO exemplifies our desire to embark on the evolution of new working modes for our employees. Indeed, for a company like ours, the quality of the contribution made by our employees will be increasingly tied to being able to benefit from a work environment that is more conducive to collaboration and innovation. We must also respond to the highest criteria of comfort, health and well-being of our teams. DUO will be an attractive factor for our talents.”

Ivanhoé Cambridge was advised in this commercialization operation by Cushman & Wakefield (brokers), Allen & Overy (lawyers), the firm Wargny firm (notaries) and LPA-CGR (lawyers in urban law).