The business district of La Défense, near Paris, hopes that the transformation of over 300,000 square meters of office space into greener, more flexible workspaces will attract companies and reduce the high vacancy rate of its buildings.

With its brutalist architecture and modern skyscrapers dominating the skyline to the west of the Arc de Triomphe, La Défense is considered the world's largest purpose-built business district. But like other urban commercial districts, its offices emptied during the pandemic and business declined.

Its vacancy rate, at over 15% compared with less than 10% before the pandemic, is much higher than in central Paris, where the vacancy rate stands at around 2%, according to real estate agents.

Many of the towers are obsolete and environmentally unfriendly, but demolishing or converting them would prove too costly.

The director of Paris La Défense, the public body in charge of managing the district, told Reuters that the plan would involve, over the next few years, launching renovations for tenants who want smaller, more environmentally-friendly offices. The plan will initially target 300,000 m² of office space, or almost one tenth of La Défense's total surface area.

Experts estimate that the renovation will cost hundreds of millions of euros. This budget will mainly be covered by major developers such as Unibail Rodamco Westfield (URW) and Vinci.

One of the strengths of the business district is that the average rent, at around 550 euros per square metre, is half that of central Paris, where supply is limited, agents point out.

The attention paid to environmental standards could give La Défense another advantage over central Paris, where buildings often date from the 19th century and are made of brick, which limits the possibility of using less energy-intensive building materials.

Paris La Défense already selects real estate projects on the basis of their energy and environmental characteristics. The organization is also in the process of transforming the public concrete esplanade into a five-hectare urban park, to be inaugurated in 2027.

Building management systems have been installed, automatically switching off office lights at night and regulating temperature.

"We're starting from a model of an extremely energy-intensive and monofunctional district," Pierre-Yves Guice, Managing Director of Paris La Défense, told Reuters from his office overlooking the district.

"Despite what people may say, our ideas remain very rational, very adaptable to business needs, and we can accommodate both large and small companies," he added.

La Défense will soon be home to France's tallest skyscraper, The Link, a 242-metre tower that will house the new headquarters of TotalEnergies, a long-time resident of the district. (Reported by Mathieu Rosemain; French version by Pauline Foret, edited by Blandine Hénault)