Marseille

Noailles, Belsunce and the 1st arrondissement

The heart of Marseille's failing-building crisis: the most safety orders in force, and the Métropole's recycling blocks (Noailles) where public developers hold dozens of buildings.

• 308 buildings under a safety order in force, 55 closed whole (City list)
• 31 of the 58 buildings held or being acquired by Marseille Habitat and the SPLA-IN

Risk: Small, deep, co-owned buildings with heavy structural works; most recycled buildings are already promised to social landlords.

Belle de Mai, Saint-Mauront and the 3rd arrondissement

Dense 19th-century streets with the second-largest number of safety orders and a priority recycling block (Clovis Hugues / Belle de Mai).

• 221 buildings under a safety order in force, 38 closed whole
• 12 of the 65 degraded co-owned estates in the recovery agreement

Risk: Low incomes and a fragile tenant population: any purchase must keep people housed.

Joliette and Euroméditerranée (2nd and 3rd)

The office district, where most of Marseille's lettings happen and where the City's former Paquet headquarters stands empty.

• 90 boulevard des Dames: 4,000+ m² City building empty since 2020
• Most of Marseille's 31,050 m² of H1 2026 take-up was in Euroméditerranée and Marseille Sud

Risk: Prime offices are let; empty space is mostly second-hand floors, not whole buildings.

Northern arrondissements (13th–16th)

Large degraded co-owned estates of the 1960s–70s, many under the State–Métropole–City recovery agreement, and the most brownfields.

• 34 of the 65 degraded co-owned estates (13th, 14th, 15th)
• 216 buildings under a safety order in force

Risk: Estates are lived in; recovery means works and buy-backs of flats, not empty buildings.

Ville de Marseille — 'Habiter Marseille : le Logement'

Since May 2024 the City sells its vacant property (historic acquisitions, leftovers of development schemes, ownerless property) by call for projects, auction or listing, every two to three months, to produce housing, notably social housing. A co-op can bid, alone or with a social landlord; four houses and flats are listed now.

Ville de Marseille — 'Pépites patrimoniales'

Calls for creative reuse of six vacant City heritage buildings, some empty for decades (April–June 2025). Winners have been named for some; a co-op can watch for the next round or for sites left without a winner.

Métropole, Marseille Habitat and the SPLA-IN — recycling degraded buildings

The Métropole acquires the most degraded buildings (by agreement, pre-emption or expropriation), makes them safe and structurally sound, then hands them to a social landlord chosen by call (AMI) or to Foncière Logement, at a price equal to the works done. Marseille Habitat still has 12 buildings to sell by 2028; a co-op can ask to be considered alongside social landlords.

Owners of buildings under safety orders

1,226 buildings are under an order that obliges their owners to carry out works; many have been closed for years. Owners — often co-owners' syndicates — may prefer to sell; a co-op can approach them with a works plan.