The real estate developer who contested the rejection of his offer to purchase the Grignon estate rejected

The aborted project to sell this cradle of French agronomy had provoked an outcry: the administrative court of Versailles rejected on Friday February 2 the appeal of a real estate developer whose offer to purchase the Grignon estate (Yvelines ) had been retained by the State.

The company Altarea Cogedim, whose project won the call for tenders launched by the State in the summer of 2021, had filed an appeal after the latter announced a few months later that it was abandoning its plan to sell the estate to it. .

“The administrative court of Versailles recalled that the decision by which the administration informs a company that its offer is accepted does not, however, create any acquired right to sign a promise of sale,” details a press release from the court sent to the 'AFP.

“The State having committed no fault in reversing its decision to sell the Grignon estate to the company Altaréa Cogedim, the court therefore rejected the appeal,” concludes this text.

In March 2020, a call for projects was launched to determine the future of this field occupied at the time by the agricultural engineering school AgroParisTech - which has since moved to Essonne - and by researchers.

The State's choice of real estate developer led to the mobilization of elected officials, environmental defense associations and former and current students of AgroParisTech. They criticized Altarea for not respecting the environmental heritage of the site and for wanting to “dismantle the estate”.

The developer planned in particular to build on this site "adapted residential programming" with "new constructions perfectly integrated into already urbanized areas" and "responsible tourist programming", including holding seminars and events in the castle. All this notably required changing the town hall's PLU (local town planning plan), which the latter was opposed to doing.

The Grignon estate includes a 130th century castle, listed as a historic monument, 133 hectares of agricultural land, including an experimental farm, and more than XNUMX hectares of woods.

In 2016, the site was planned to accommodate the new training center of the Paris Saint-Germain football club, a 35 million euro project which had already been abandoned in the face of the large mobilization of opponents.