Off-plan buyers in Alpe d'Huez
A Lincolnshire family is among those opting for an MGM apartment in a lesser-known Alpine location. Early off-plan buyers in Alpe d’Huez were management consultant Mandi Plummer and her solicitor husband Alan.
In previous years, the couple, whose home is in Stamford, enjoyed many holidays in Alpe d’Huez, sometimes taking Alan’s three grown-up children with them. Says Mandi: “Alan, Will, Tommy and Elle are awesome skiers and the resort has something challenging for everyone.”
Although the Plummers had been looking for a place of their own in the resort, the only suitable properties available to buy were in the old town, away from the ski slopes.
In January last year Mandi was walking through the newer part of the town, noticed that a site had been cleared for construction work just 100 metres from the ski lift, and made a note of MGM’s London office telephone number from the site board.
“We were so keen to buy a four-bedroom family apartment in this location that our meeting in MGM’s London sales office was little more than a formality,“ recalls Mandi who says they made their decision to buy there and then.
The Plummers purchased their property at a cost of €500,000 but only had to pay €350,000 because they were able to take advantage of a discount of €150,000 in respect of the VAT, waived under the leaseback system, and a ‘rental credit’ rather than a rental income.
“This has already proved to be a good investment for the Plummers,” says MGM’s Richard Deans who reports that, in the period since they bought their apartment, demand has pushed property values up by ten per cent.
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Winter & Ski Home
Property & Living
MGM Developments in French Alps
Skiing Families Endorse MGM's 'Off Piste' Developments in the French Alps
Skiing families have endorsed the decision by French developer MGM to expand by building accommodation in lesser-known Alpine locations by snapping up new apartments off-plan.
Less than two years after announcing plans to build them, MGM already has sold all but a handful of the 90 apartments nearing completion in its new résidence de tourisme in Val Cenis in the Haute-Maurienne – a new region of the French Alps for MGM – and all of those in the Central Alps village of Alpe d’Huez where the opportunities to develop new buildings are rare. Similar high demand is expected in Valmorel, a ski resort within the Grand Domaine area currently little-known to Britons, where MGM is building 86 new apartments.
An artist’s impression of MGM’s new résidence de tourisme, Le Napoleon, being built in the village ski resort of Montgenèvre in the Southern French Alps. For details call 0207 4940706 or visit www.mgmfrenchproperties.com
Richard Deans, sales consultant in the company’s London office (+44 (0)207 4940706) says: “Some may feel that we are going ‘off piste’ by developing in lesser-known locations like these but we are continuing to build in high profile ski resorts like Tignes and Chamonix as well as popular Haute Savoie villages such as Samoëns and Les Carroz. Nevertheless, our developments in lesser-known locations continue to attract strong interest.”
Local investment gives boost to Montgenèvre
Locations include the village ski resort of Montgenèvre in the Southern Alps, close to the Italian border, where MGM’s first leaseback development in the village – Le Chalet des Dolines comprising 54 leaseback ski-in, ski-out apartments – opened for business almost two years ago.
A view overlooking the picturesque resort of Montgenèvre in the Southern French Alps.
This month MGM starts work on a second résidence in the village where, in recent years, the local authority has invested around €80 million in:
- a 0.35 km road tunnel so that traffic which used to pass through the village en route for Italy has been removed;
- improvements to the front de neige – the area where the ski lifts start and the slopes end – as well as the layout and maintenance of the ski slopes;
- new slopes, lifts and high-tech snow canons, boosting the appeal of the 400 km of pistes in the so-called Via Lattea or Milky Way network.
A further €20 million is being invested in a new lift which will whisk skiers to new slopes planned at a snow-sure altitude of more than 3,000 metres. Among other new developments underway in Montgenèvre, and on schedule for opening in the summer of 2013 is Durancia, a new leisure complex which will include a cinema, crèche, bowling alley and aquatic centre.
MGM Résidence Le Napoleon, Montgenèvre
MGM’s new résidence, Le Napoleon, takes its name from the chalet hotel which stood on the site opposite the front de neige. Demolition of the hotel has just been completed and work is getting underway on construction of the résidence.
The 50 two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments at Le Napoleon, many of which will enjoy panoramic views of the mountains and slopes, are being sold off-plan by MGM which says they will be ready for occupation in December next year. They are expected to attract families seeking a year-round holiday home which is handy both for the ski slopes and the Mediterranean coast three hours away by car.
Four-star facilities within the new résidence will include an indoor pool, fitness suite, gym, sauna, jacuzzi and steam rooms, as well as a beauty centre with a variety of massages and treatments on offer. The résidence will be run by the MGM Group’s dedicated specialist company, La Compagnie de Gestion Hoteliere (CGH), which handles maintenance, letting and management for owners.
All of MGM’s new homes in Montgenèvre will have pine internal finishes with tiled and parquet floors. In keeping with MGM’s policy of using local natural materials wherever possible, the buildings will be clad externally in timber and stone. Each home comes with cellar storage, a ski locker and underground parking.
Apartment Prices Off-Plan
Off-plan prices at Le Napoleon start at € 271,000 for a one-bedroom apartment of 38.5 sq m rising to € 560,000 for a four-bedroom duplex with a floor area of 82 sq m. These prices exclude French VAT at 19.6 per cent which is waived under the leaseback scheme.
For more information call MGM’s London office on 0207 4940706, email london@mgm-immobilier.fr or visit www.mgmfrenchproperties.com and click on the Union Jack symbol to read the English language version.
© Tim Stanley PR, 2011
By Road
The classic route is to drive to Grenoble then via the Col du Lauteret to Briançon and up to Montgenèvre - N.B. We advise checking that the roads are clear before taking this route as it is subject to occasional closures while heavy snowfalls are cleared.
A faster, more reliable route is on the autoroute from Chambéry to Modane then the Tunnel du Fréjus briefly into Italy. Follow the N94 back across the French border and into Montgenèvre. It is however more costly: allow around 100 euros for autoroute and tunnel tolls from Calais.
By air
The nearest airport is Turin, within 1½ hrs transfer time. The transfer from Grenoble takes around 2½ hours, but could easily be longer in heavy traffic and bad weather.
By train
There are three direct TGV trains per day from Paris Gare de Lyon to Oulx (Italy) taking around 4½ hours. Regular shuttles take passengers on the 30 minute transfer to and from Montgenèvre.
services from London offer regular services to Paris to pick up your connection.
Off-plan prices at Le Napoleon start at € 271,000 for a one-bedroom apartment of 38.5 sq m rising to £560,000 for a four-bedroom duplex with a floor area of 82 sq m. These prices exclude French VAT at 19.6 per cent which is waived under the leaseback scheme.
For more information about the properties available, call MGM’s UK office at Kingsland House, 122 - 124 Regent Street, London W1B 5SA, tel:+44 (0)207 4940706 , email london@mgm-immobilier.fr or visit the website
A Place in France
For independent advice, those interested can also contact A Place in France who is MGM's exclusive partner in the UK.
Tel: 0844 576 8485 / 023 9287 6857
