Buying in Beaux-Arts, Montpellier

Streets and micro-sectors

1. 01

   The place de la Comédie and the Opéra Comédie

   The place de la Comédie is the drawing room of Montpellier: the Three Graces fountain at its centre, the cafés on one side, the Opéra Comédie on the other, the tram crossing through. The apartments in the surrounding buildings are among the most central in the city, pieds-à-terre and main residences alike; the price of that centrality is measured in the evening, terraces full and performance nights. A bedroom set back from the square and a high floor correct most of the noise.

2. 02

   The esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle

   Whoever is buying an apartment in Beaux-Arts looks first at the buildings of the esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle: it links the Comédie to the Corum under its plane trees, between the terraces and the steps. The façades lining it are among the most sought-after in Montpellier, light and relative quiet in the middle of town. The lower floors are checked visit by visit: the performance evenings are heard with the windows open. The property market follows the seasons, busy from February to June and again in September.

3. 03

   The musée Fabre

   The musée Fabre is the great painting museum of Montpellier, steps from the Comédie: its rooms and its public keep the terraces and galleries of the area alive all year. The nearby addresses combine absolute centrality with cultural life at the door, for a pied-à-terre as for a year-round home. The protected perimeter of the old centre reaches its limits here: windows, façades and shopfronts are altered with the opinion of the Architecte des Bâtiments de France, to be checked address by address before the offer.

4. 04

   The Saint-Roch station on the southern edge

   A few minutes on foot south of the Comédie, the Saint-Roch station puts Paris three and a quarter hours away by TGV and links Nîmes, Sète or Béziers. The buildings of the area suit buyers who want the station at the door: Parisian professionals in motion, pieds-à-terre, international uses. The trap is classic: the addresses close to the tracks are listened to before the offer, windows open, and the ground floors on the busy streets are checked visit by visit.

Three finder’s reflexes in Beaux-Arts

1. 01 Listen to the square on a Saturday evening

   The centrality of Beaux-Arts is heard as much as seen: the terraces of the Comédie, performance nights, summer weekends, morning deliveries. The video pre-viewing happens twice, by day for light and in the evening for noise, windows open then closed. A bedroom on the courtyard, a high floor and well-kept windows make the difference between a charming address and an apartment one sleeps in; the streets set back towards the Écusson settle the case between two neighbours.

2. 02 Check the lift before the balcony

   The Haussmannian buildings of the quarter were often built without a lift, and not all can be given one: shaft, structure, a vote in general meeting. A fourth floor without a lift is negotiated differently from a second with one; its presence weighs on the use as on the resale. The minutes of the last three meetings, the service charges and the co-ownership rules are read before the offer: an approved façade works or a refused lift change the real cost of the purchase.

3. 03 Check the protected perimeter before the offer

   Beaux-Arts borders the protected sector of the Écusson and lives around protected monuments: façades, windows and shopfronts are altered under permissions, often with the opinion of the Architecte des Bâtiments de France. The rule is checked address by address, at the town hall, before planning: it weighs on the cost and timetable of the works. Home Select does not cost works: have them costed by a professional before the offer; the true price is played works included.