Impasse du Pont
property details
for a Hub House co-operative coliving project

Area ✧ this little town is fairly pretty and lively with a good market and some cafes (including a salad bar) etc, multiple good restos, plus sushi and burgers
✦ the main town of Alès used to be rather ugly yet is undergoing rehabilitation notably with a new market hall and square planned for reopening in 2025, it's moderately lively and has tons of shops and restos, even an icerink
✦ in 2028 the railway line will be reopened bringing the main town to 20mins, until then the bus is reasonably good at 30mins (last 6:30pm) however visits should be minimal, mainly for access
✦ onward connections have good choice; Nimes airport is a train then shuttle and normally has year round service to Stansted and Brussels, plus seasonal to Luton and Morocco; many more options including Lisbon from both Marseille and Montpellier
✦ last train from Nimes is at 9:20pm which isn't bad, but last bus 6pm thus late arrivals would require pickup but should be avoidable

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the river at the door isn't good for swimming though fine nearby for a splash, better and kayaking 20mins walk, or bike/bus
✦ 10mins walk to tennis, and a garden with a small natural rockface for climbing
✦ good variety for biking some trails reaching 600m (400m ascent), and including 3h with just a single road crossing
✦ 3 hikes/walks start 10mins along lanes with circuits and strolls possible, one to a ruined fort (being rebuilt by an association), a short drive gives more variety such as these lovely eroded pools 30mins drive (1h15 bike) good gorges with sup/kayak/climbing, and heights around 900m at a pretty village, plus the pont d'arc are 30mins drive
✦ with the train to Besseges there'll be even more paths and trails
✦ for daytrips the nice little towns of Uzes and Andouze are a reasonable 45mins drive with the famous Pont du Gard at 1h
✦ winter climate is pretty good with an entire third of days clear and just a few of snow, though gets bursts of very heavy rain in spring and autumn and this is getting worse, with little rainfall the rest of the year

property detail ↗︎

Property ✧ despite the not insignificant acquisition this represents great value in the centre of a nice little town, having big annexes, a good garden and huge terrace with outlook (unusual in a town!), plus several mostly usable apartments (if tatty) with overall great potential for reimagination and development
✦ likely no major works, the roof actually seems okay so probably not selling due to a very odd hotch potch of different bits having limited value as apartments (not to mention conversion costs)
✦ most of the capacity I've counted needs to be developed with only about 300m2 usable

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whilst there is capacity for a couple of dedicated units, they may be best for fractional; thus acquisition could initially only proceed with for example 45 fractional stakes of minimum €5k representing a stake equivalent to 2 months (basic room); once acquired fractional stakes would be sold at lower values to fund renovation
✦ there is the possibility of dedicated studio/apartment with individual deeds† for sale in the building directly opposite (and in fact adjoining via the barn) at 127k 105k with 240m2 in 5 studios/apartments some having roof terraces, with two garages (+30m2); it is rather ugly but funcitonal, so not a bad deal at €25k on average for a unit as-is, though some kind of stake would be expected in the main property, it could also probably be better divided; the final cost is in the realm of better buildings with more functional layouts; †if converted to a copropriété (condo)

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probably not enough demand as a hub, thus public coworking would be limited to max 2 days/week without full time use for better dynamism

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the parcel (860) has a remarkably good 860m2 footprint of which 430m2 is the garden sitting at 1st floor level, 270m2 grassy with 2 pine trees, 160m2 paved terrace looking out to the east and south over the countryside
✦ the building gives around 580m2 on a 190m2 footprint (170m2 inside, >140m2 usable), of which the ground onto the lane has a garage and a small old shopfront (would be changed to common spaces) and opens onto a courtyard/passageway (possibly 35m2) below the garden, then there's 2 main floors, the first having balconies and at the rear could have a bridge access over the alley to the garden, and one attic floor having windows only to the south-west (the front, not rear)
✦ one apartment of only 50m2 on the 2nd floor was rented but now appears to be vacant, regardless not too hard to shift
✦ below the terrace is a magnificent long vaulted cellar of 130m2 perfect for a cinema/karoke/games/events, this joins onto a tall open-sided barn of 80m2 facing south that would make an excellent coworking space or could be converted to 3 very nice mezzanine cohousing microunits, each having 15–20m2 ground, full height windows with a large bedroom mezzanine (probably same size, thus min 30m2, but set back with a ~10m2 open section); one end unit would be larger, the acquisition part for these would be about €20k, and fitout min 20k (depending upon the size of the front windows however this would be standardised)
✦ access to both of these annexes is currently only via the 2 lanes so units would have private access, however it would probably be worthwhile connecting a spiral staircase to the terrace for private access between the main building
✦ there's some other kind of small annexe in the garden, and possibly other sections of cellars below
✦ most of the windows are already double-glazed (but PVC) and electrics ok, the 5 attic windows are however bricked up, and the rear of the building might need some bigger windows; may also be possible to to add some windows to the cellar for use as a (cool) lounge
✦ the attic is open but split between two side for 160m2, with the south wall essentiall double height thus perfect for pods with bathrooms at the lower side
✦ the position will generally be quiet and there's other buildings between the road and bridge, however it's probable there will be some traffic noise