Beziers–22 St Jaques
property details & discussions
for a Hub House co-operative coliving project

☃️3–11–19°☀️6☁️11 • 🍂14–27°☀️8☁️9
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Environment ✧ beaches 30mins bus, rolling vineyards, coastal plains, (rocky massif)
Services ✧ all
Access ✧ station 10mins walk, direct to Barcelona 2h15, Paris 4h; airport 30mins shuttle, plus many other airports (CDG direct)
Property ✧ garden is ranked good because whilst the property may have limited outdoor spaces, the town has many
✦ the interesting part of this is a seperate building at the back that will hang over a new public garden and could be given an impressive roof terrace looking over most of the town
✦ being sold with others on behalf of the town as part of area redevelopment
✦ was a very rundown neighborhood however this location is its very tip, and whilst many of the surrounding streets have been tidied up it is right next to where the 'arabs and gypsies' live however I find this lends life and in any case means there's a choice of local shops
✦ a large number of adjacent buildings were demolished leaving land directly onto the back of the building due to be transformed into a public garden, with a remaining large block also due for demolishment to be replaced by a modern apartment building, the one that seems to have had approval towers over the east of the building, however looks quite interesting is partly open to the south, and low to west thus not blocking the cathedral view (3d view, publicity leaflet, website); regrettably it does not fully utilise the potential promenade with views over the walls, retaining it as a road rather than pedestrianising, and has limited commercial spaces that would be an excellent location for a coworking…
✦ this means there will be significant neighbouring construction works for probably a year or so from somepoint not too distant; given the high value of the project (a singular location having views) its likely to be swift though one plan involved an underground carpark below the garden which would be rather significant
✦ just on the next lane there's another public square in the ruins of the old roman arena, and another in front of the church with views over the walls
✦ tax is expensive: €5k/year
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✦ to function as satellite with perhaps extra dorm beds for stopovers journeying between locations; the town has no coworking, so if there's enough space it would do well to host a few locals for occasional drop-in days as a mini-hub, a floor of rear building for coworking would accommodate this, in an ideal world one of the commercial spaces in the new block would be a coworking
✦ probably 6 bedrooms though may not be ensuite, plus good dorm, common spaces may only be ground and rear building though likely adequate for a capacity of about 10
✦ average month stake would be under €3.5k though ⅓ of the monthly costs would be tax however little heating is needed so still pretty good
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✦ as building is an approachable height works should not be hard even with new floors for the rear building
✦ roof seems fine; interior is solid but in poor state with all infra likely requiring replacing, which is fine for refitting, might be partly usable with nominal effort
✦ original parcel 1065, 205m2, but renumbered
✦ 95m2 streetfront building with 6 juliet balconies and two large street openings either side of the door; split in 2 at the rear and probably also in the front
✦ probably 80m2 usable *4 =320 +60
✦ 17m2 courtyard
✦ 35m2 seperate building at back, with cellars, 1 floor (currently inaccessible), plus attic that could be opened as roof terrace with pergolas and fab view across to cathedral being one of the highest rooftops around (except for future apartment building), there's quite a bit of south-east walls which would probably be kept providing shelter from the sun and privacy from the apartment building; if the first floor is raised slightly this would essentially give two floors (probably coworking and a lounge) instead of cellars and interconnecting with the main building
✦ 25m2 courtyard could open onto public garden or be part covered with another roof terrace
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✦ there are some restoration requirements however these are fairly minor except for demolishing the rear buildings to seperate the outermost part of the parcel for the garden, which has already been done, with buttresses erected in the garden to support it
✦ town has undergone significant redevelopment with a completely new main avenue and a to be completed station concourse, plan many public squares
✦ there's a fabulous public garden (with loquat trees) and several others✦ this location is not intended for easy access to interesting nature though there are strolls and nice scenery, plus kayak/sup on the river, with better kayaking and horseriding nearby
✦ the nice canal front and locks are the only stroll, with the canal greenway offering a good way to explore a bit more from the door by bike; there are a few nice 2h+ biking trails great for beginners, if nothing particularly challenging✦ hikes are 15–30mins drive/bus, but nature of note is 45mins+ drive (with great variety from a craggy massif, red lake with watersports, coastal lagoons, or river gorges) thus suitable for outings probably once a week (this is equivalent to say going to the Glacier Blanc from Cloud Citadel), however many are also accessible by public transport
✦ the town is not otherwise very lively nor interesting, albeit more so than most, and it does host many sideshow events and has an impressive theatre; neighbouring towns often also host events e.g. Sete and the last return from Montpellier is 11pm
✦ I've lived here for some years so represents an easy start; I also know where all the fig, mulberry, plum, apricot and pomegranite trees are ;)
✦ climate is pretty decent, gets a bit hot in summer (no problem well shaded with cieling fans) and is increasingly affected by droughts in peak season thus July–Aug would probably be made shoulder (thus great value for an EU location) with June and Sept as peak; can be fairly windy for biking though fine for hiking; winter is reasonable but can be nippy unlike further south but droughts down there are worse