Three medium-sized office buildings associated with an open-air shopping and services center and a green space, all accessible on foot and by car : open at the end of June, the Casabona commercial and tertiary space inaugurates a new place for responsible living and consumption in Reunion Island.
“Nor just a shopping center, nor only business center, the Casabona center embodies the ambition of an innovative urban mix” explained, en substance, during the official inauguration of the site, end of June, its four shareholders, Cadjee groups, Locate and Savaranin and Caisse des Dépôts-Banque des Territoires, as well as its designer promoter, Icade, subsidiary of Caisse des Dépôts.
Refusal of the overrated and flashy, concern for balance between offices, commercial space and green space, search for practicality, compliance with demanding environmental standards. It is a new and visionary approach to commerce as demonstrated by the Casabona commercial and tertiary space in Saint-Pierre., first of its kind in Réunion. While shopping centers are most often closed places folded in on themselves, the Casabona center chose the opposite bias : its almost minimalist architecture gives birth to an airy place, widely open to its environment, accompanied by greenery with a landscaped area composed of three interconnected gardens. Green space occupies more than a third of the surface area of the site, never seen before in Reunion in a shopping center. The Casabona space even makes a century-old banyan tree its symbol. This is the first surprise : this unique “open-air” design with a panoramic square which gives pride of place to the spectacles of the city and the mountains and encourages pedestrian wandering.
Everything at your fingertips
Second surprise : the three office buildings, with sober and functional architecture, united with the commercial space by the forecourt. They will house, among others, by the end of the year, the offices of the southern branch of the Family Allowance Fund and a notary’s office. In all, between office jobs and commercial activity jobs, around a thousand people will work on site. With an expected attendance of two to three thousand people per day, and taking into account the attractiveness of the site, the economic equation should be resolved without too much difficulty once shops and offices are all operational. It’s easy to imagine the end-of-day hustle and bustle that will reign, especially, leaving the office. Their audience will have, on the spot, an average food surface (Leader Price), an average surface area of home equipment (Centrakor) and a little further a famous brand of personal equipment (Superpolygone). Besides these locomotives, other stores line their windows along the panoramic promenade and on the mezzanine gallery of the food court : ready to wear, optical, toys, etc. At noon, the restaurants have their terraces available. So there will be people everywhere. And until the evening, restaurants opening until 10 p.m.. In a fairly limited space, this intelligently designed place will meet most of the needs.
A strategic location
The Casabona commercial and tertiary space takes place at the upper entrance to Saint-Pierre, next to the swimming pool in the Casabona district. On the one hand, the panoramic view overlooks the four-way road leading to the West and the East ; the other, in the densely urbanized district leading to the hyper center of Saint-Pierre. Additional advantage, the city's bus station is less than a five-minute walk away. This is the other originality of the Casabona commercial and tertiary space. Its position allows it to shine throughout the South. But it is also a local urban commercial center. You can get there by public transport and even simply on foot, a first in Reunion. This dual urban and peri-urban vocation is reflected in the three access points it has. Two accesses for the car, one from the city, the other from the four-voice, with a two-level covered car park offering 643 parking spaces. And a third exclusively pedestrian access. This positioning does not compete with anyone : nor with the shops in the city center, nor with the neighboring Canabady hypermarket and shopping center. The Casabona space completes the commercial offer of Saint-Pierre.
A project open to the future
Another big new feature on the site : the Casabona commercial and tertiary space is at the forefront of the environmental and societal transition in terms of design, architecture and building. Behind its apparent simplicity, it's a model : it has HQE Sustainable Building certification delivered by Certivéa, the certification agency of the Scientific and Technical Building Center (CSTB). Equipment side, the car park offers 22 electric vehicle charging stations. A large photovoltaic plant will be installed on the roof. It is also the first time that a landscaped part occupies a place in its own right in a commercial and tertiary complex., especially in the city. Gardens are not just part of the decor. They will be part of the customer experience. With the highlight of the show : the century-old banyan tree.A 21,000 M² COMPLEX
The Casabona space brings together 8,000 m2 of shops and various services, a tertiary center of 8,800 m², our restaurants (for a total of 2,000 m²).
THE PROJECT ACTORS
CADJEE GROUP
At the beginning of the 2000's, the Cadjee group has positioned itself in the real estate development sector, notably by leading the operations of the Chaudron business center, the Bellepierre and Apolonia hotels and the MOCA estate. He is now in the press (with the Journal of Reunion Island), the hotel industry, the acquisition and management of buildings (through the companies Center d’Affaires Cadjee and Char) and real estate development (through the company Cadjee Promotion).
LOCATE OCEAN IF
Specialized in the import and distribution of various products, In the 1970s, the Locate group began diversifying towards, especially, real estate with residential and commercial building operations and heritage real estate development. Very established in the trade, Locate establishments are developing several retail brands in Reunion, including Centrakor.
GROUPE SAVARANI
The Savaranin group works in the field of public works and real estate development (office buildings, businesses and residential accommodation). If land development remains its core activity, the group has been diversifying in the environmental sector for several years, while maintaining the real estate activity.
BANK OF THE TERRITORIES
Created in 2018, Banque des Territoires is one of the five businesses of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations. She provides advice, in financing loans and investments to meet the needs of local authorities, social housing organizations, local public companies, etc. The Banque des Territoires Réunion-Océan indian is involved in the development and deployment of structuring projects for the future to support territorial transformations. It invests directly as a shareholder in the Casabona project.
ICADE
The Icade company, whose reference shareholder is the Caisse des Dépôts group, is a real estate operator who today designs innovative real estate products and services to respond to new uses and urban lifestyles. Placing CSR and innovation at the heart of its strategy, Icade intends to contribute to the emergence of green cities, intelligent and responsible. Icade is, for example, a major player in the Greater Paris project and the future Olympic Village for the 2024 Olympic Games.. Emmanuel Desmazières, Managing Director of Icade Promotion, came specially from mainland France for the inauguration of the Casabona space.
