Loft with swimming pool and garden in La Croix-Rousse. @Atypical Spaces
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Real estate. – Often steeped in history, these original habitats are highly sought after in Lyon and its region as supply becomes scarce. Advantages and disadvantages, overview of what you need to know before buying.
A former factory transformed into a comfortable loft with a metal atmosphere, an old barn that has become a warm studio, a barge with a garden on the Saône and a view of Fourvière, a former canut workshop renovated into a bright family T3… They are what the ‘we call “rare pearls”. For many, they represent a luxury, but for others, they materialize a need: to feel like the heir to a history and to make their home an experience, more than just a habitat. Those are the “atypical properties”. In other words, these unique apartments, with assets that take them to another dimension than the classic apartment, without however achieving the label, sometimes sought after, of prestige properties.
“These are ‘favorite’ goods, with emotion in the decision-making during the purchase” Jérémy Jehan, from the specialized agency Espaces Atypiques, in Lyon
An in-between that makes these dwellings in question unique places with an indisputable cachet. “We consider that atypical properties represent 20% of the overall housing market”, explains Jérémy Jehan, of the specialized agency Espaces Atypiques, in Lyon. He thus gives his definition of this type of housing: “These are ‘favorite’ goods, with emotion in the decision-making during the purchase. Generally, these are properties with a very contemporary style – therefore carefully redone and rehabilitated – and endowed with a strong history. Above all, it is often a question of main residences, not of investments to make speculation out of them.” The expert also admits to refusing files deemed too conventional: “Without wishing to be pejorative, if there is no particular attraction or a landscape that is at least interesting, the property is not for us. I’m thinking of 70s, 80s type houses. It’s just that our niche is more specific.”
Prices: almost prestige
On the price side, it is difficult to generalize because of the unique character of each property. In other words, comparing an old mill that has become a house in Beaujolais to a barge in the city center is of little interest, especially since the location will have a decisive influence on the price. On the other hand, often renovated and fitted out by an architect, these neatly styled accommodations come out of the price grids of the conventional market. Jérémy Jehan analyzes: “In Lyon and the region, the entry ticket is 300,000 euros for a small loft, or a typical Haussmann studio. But the average price is more around 700,000 euros, when our high scale is around 3 million euros. In this kind of business, there is no announcement, it is rather off market. Depending on the client’s project, the target is generally off and everything is done via the private network.” Ditto for the barge market in Lyon, where entry prices range around 600,000 euros for 170 m2 generally.
“The market is so thin that specialized agents generally comply with the demands of sellers” Hugo Boudjema, real estate agent for Apartment or house search
Still, the location will matter since “the banks of the Rhône, towards Place Lyautey and the Parc de la Tête-d’Or for example, are more popular than those of the Saône, which are more towards the Confluence for barges”, analyzes Hugo Boudjema, real estate agent for Search apartment or house, also selling barges in Lyon. “But there is not really a price range because everything will depend on the service inside. The market is so thin that specialist agents generally comply with the demands of sellers”, he regrets.
Apartment in a deconsecrated chapel in Villefranche @Espaces Atypiques
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A favorable situation
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