Can Sarcelles become a student city? In any case, this is the ambition of the mayor, Patrick Haddad (PS), who hopes to eventually welcome a thousand students to Sarcelles. And the laying of the foundation stone of a future student residence, in the emblematic 13-storey Forum tower, in the heart of the Flanades, is a further step in this direction. “We are in an environment that will change profoundly,” he says. With the aim of changing the image of the Grand Ensemble and attracting a new population.
This is a conversion operation of this office building, abandoned for about ten years, piloted by the social landlord Vilogia who bought the tower in vefa (sale in the future state of completion). Also known by locals as the Humanis Mortgage Tower that occupied it, the 1972 Forum Tower is one of the tallest in the city. Several projects followed each other without ever being successful and the asbestos removal site finally started in early 2021.
The future student residence, which will also house young workers, will have to be delivered at the end of the year to be invested in January 2023 by the tenants. It will include 137 lodgings (or 209 rooms). These are 20m2 one-bedroom apartments, spacious 30m2 one-bedroom apartments, as well as four- and five-bedroom apartments “to fit the co-living fashion” and 400m2 of shops on the floor. Earth. .
The rents will be on average 380 euros for the rooms and 450 euros for the studios, before the deduction of the personalized housing assistance (APL). “They are subsidized housing, which adapts to student income. There will be all the services, laundry, coworking, upstairs room… ”, explains Thibault de Saint-Pierre, deputy director of the IDF territory of Vilogia.
A “Scuola Maker” project.
“It is about meeting a need that was not met in the city of Sarcelles: student accommodation”, presented Patrick Haddad. CY Cergy Paris University IUT is 400 meters away. “As part of the recovery plan, we will move from three to four departments in this IUT from 2023,” he specifies. That is a hundred students in addition to the 500 already present. The work on the future Digital Home, located on the IUT site, will also be completed within a year.
Added to this is the Maker School project, a school annexed to the University, “where learning is done”. It would be open to young people from bac -3, i.e. students who have dropped out of studies, to bac + 3. It would offer short training courses of one or two years, in relation to the lack of jobs in the employment area of the community of agglomerations of Roissy Pays-de-France, like the professions at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport or digital technology in the healthcare sector. The entrepreneurs themselves could teach there.
Still in its infancy, this Maker School, “the icing on the cake”, could see the light in 3 or 4 years and initially host 200 students, in the building right next to the Forum tower, creating continuity with the IUT, which the mayor it even qualifies as a “university center”. It requires an investment of 5 to 6 million euros. “This student residence gives our project credibility also in the eyes of the University,” adds Patrick Haddad.
Mix between students and young workers
The intention of the municipality is to propose an inter-company catering offer on the ground floor of the student residence, which will remain called Forum, for the staff of the municipal capital, the businesses of the avenue du 8 mai, despite being open to students.
The workers have the task of compartmentalizing the office floors. Double glazing was installed for the acoustic and thermal insulation of the rooms, without altering the facade of the building. “This is a nearly 50 year old tower, iconic in the Sarcelles landscape. It was important not to distort the spirit of this tower “, stresses Frédéric Pelège, president of Proxity, the real estate developer who is working on this tower with the developer Axim.
The student residence will be managed by the Les Quartiers latins association, through its AppartStudy brand. The challenge is to attract … students. “We think it will appeal, due to its location and proximity to public transport, positive Sabrina Abel, commercial director. We will have to ensure the mix between students and young workers. The local mission will also send us files. The attribution service will be carried out at the headquarters to avoid any connivance or facies crime “.
It should be noted that the IUT currently attracts 10% of Sarcellois. The opportunity to study in Sarcelles is also an advantage and allows some young people in the city to pursue higher education.
