Ski Properties in New Areas

The decision to expand its development activities into the Central and Haute-Maurienne regions of the French Alps has paid off for leading French developer MGM, according to its London-based UK sales consultant Richard Deans.

Little more than a year ago he announced that MGM was about to start building two major new schemes in new areas for the first time. One comprised 65 leaseback apartments in a brand new four-star résidence de tourisme in Alpe d’Huez in the Central Alps; the other was the company’s biggest ever résidence, Le Chalet de Flambeau, in the Val Cenis ski resort in the Haute-Maurienne region of France, close to the Italian border.

Already all the apartments in Alpe d’Huez have been sold off-plan and construction work on the résidence is on schedule for completion by the start of the ski season later this year. The news has been welcomed by early off-plan buyers like Lincolnshire couple Mandi and Alan Plummer.

Meanwhile, all but a handful of the 90 apartments in the first phase of Le Chalet de Flambeau also have been sold.

The prices of those still available range from €210,000 for a one-bedroom apartment with a floor area of 40sqm to €380,000 for a three-bedroom duplex of 90sqm. Prices exclude French VAT at 19.6% which is waived under the leaseback scheme.

Richard is confident that all of the apartments will have been sold by the time phase one is completed in December, particularly as buyers at Le Chalet de Flambeau are among the first to benefit from a new range of leaseback options launched by MGM.

The strength of demand has prompted MGM to bring forward the launch of the next phase of the development which, when complete, will comprise what is, in effect, a brand new street of eight detached chalets together containing a total of 197 apartments. They are located close to the ski lift, giving access to around 125km of pistes.

Facilities for use by residents at Le Chalet de Flambeau include an indoor pool, a children’s pool, a fitness suite, gym, sauna, jacuzzi and steam rooms, as well as one of MGM’s first own-brand ÔdesCimes spas offering a variety of treatments.

The ground floor of the chalet closest to the ski lift will be occupied by the ski school office, the ski pass office and a crèche. On an adjacent site are 10 new shops, including a supermarket, tea room and sports shop. Also nearby is the meeting point for skiers taking lessons during the school holidays.

Val Cenis is 90 minutes by road from Chambery Airport. Grenoble Airport is a two-hour drive and Geneva Airport is two and a quarter hours by road.

Commenting on MGM’s decision to extend its activities into the Haute-Maurienne, Richard said this week: “We have been keen to do so for a while and investigated a number of locations for development before selecting Val Cenis. We are building on a flat open site of 2.32 hectares (5.7 acres) in a sunny location with panoramic mountain views between the old-established villages of Lanslebourg and Lanslevillard.

“For MGM, the development of Le Chalet de Flambeau marks the start of our expansion into a new region of the French Alps, providing the company with the opportunity to offer a new generation of high quality ski properties in the biggest ski resort in the Haute-Maurienne.”

For full details of the properties available from MGM call 0207 4940706, email [email protected] or visit the website www.mgmfrenchproperties.com