Socri Reim launches Ceïba, a foundation designed to integrate nature into urban development projects

The Montpellier-based company, which is chaired by Nicolas Chambon and specialises in commercial property and urban development, brings together recognised experts in urban planning, landscape architects and plant professionals. Nicolas Chambon, Chairman of Socri Reim, presented the launch of his corporate foundation, Ceïba, in Grasse (Alpes-Maritimes) on Tuesday. The aim of Ceïba is to promote reflection on “nature in the city”. “Our ambition is to bring together recognised experts within this corporate foundation in order to reconcile urban projects and nature,” he explains. The Chairman of the Montpellier-based company, which specialises in commercial property and urban development, intends to build on the work carried out by his teams on the various projects undertaken since Socri Reim was founded in 2003. “Nature is part of our group’s DNA,” he says.

To achieve his ambition through Ceïba, he has brought together recognised experts whose mission is to provide food for thought in the debate on the development and redevelopment of towns and cities. The committee of experts includes Jean Mus, an architect and urban planner based on the Côte d’Azur; Jean-Paul Viguier, a Parisian architect; Alain Marguerit, a landscape and urban planner from Montpellier; Yann Fortunato, an industrialist from Montpellier and the main driving force behind the agroforestry sector in the region, and Marie Morel, a lawyer from Montpellier who is committed to the defence of nature. Socri Reim employees are also represented by Pierre-Antoine Desplan, Deputy Director.

With a budget of 150,000 euros, the Ceïba Foundation aims to “enable as many players as possible to benefit from the expertise we’ve gained over the years,” stresses Nicolas Chambon. For him, the company has built up a “wealth of expertise on the topic of nature”. He recalls the real estate projects undertaken by his company, all of which take nature into account. Examples include the Polygone shopping centre in Béziers and the Polygone Riviera in Cagnes-sur-Mer. Not to mention the impressive project the company won two years ago in Monaco. “On the former Fontvieille retail site, we are going to create 2 hectares of vegetation on the roof of the shopping centre; it will be the largest urban park in Monaco.”

The Ceïba Foundation will also be advising decision-makers and other developers. “We are available to advise local authorities on how to develop nature in the city,” emphasises the Socri Reim Chairman. For Jean Mus, “it’s about looking at where nature should be in the urban spaces of tomorrow, and what the city needs in that area”. Alain Marguerit recognises this: “Our businesses are changing, a new form of engineering is being put in place”.