The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are being called the biggest event ever organized in France.
As our city gets ready there are many changes taking place, from a volleyball stadium by the Eiffel Tower to an urban park on the place de la Concorde.
We take a look at the exciting changes happening over the next two years.
A worldwide focus on Paris
In 2024, Paris is hosting the 2024 Olympic Games for the first time in a century.
For three weeks, from July 26 to August 11, 2024, our capital will be the center of the world, as international audiences stream and tune-in to this acclaimed sporting event.
This Olympics represents a new adventure that will take France on an experience unlike anything it has seen before.
With just 26 months to go, changes are already starting to take shape around the capital.
Changes around the city
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will transform our city’s iconic landmarks into sporting arenas.
A new volleyball stadium is being constructed under the Eiffel Tower, stretching away from the Seine towards the Ecole Militaire military academy. It’s a dramatic setting.
It’s part of the revitalized area around the city’s most famous landmark, which also includes a new green park. Known as the Site Tour Eiffel project, it’s something we previously reported in this blog.
Another unusual development is already standing close by. Opened last year, the Champ de Mars Arena or Grand Palais Overlay is a sustainable timber structure designed by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte.
This temporary building was conceived to house exhibitions that would normally be held at the original Grand Palais. Currently undergoing major renovations, the Grand Palais was itself built as a temporary construction for the World’s Fair in 1900.
The 10,000m² space will host several sporting events in this prime Champ de Mars location, including judo and wrestling.
The Esplanade des Invalides is also being reworked, with archery taking place opposite Napoleon’s magnificent Hôtel des Invalides.
Cyclists will also be returning to the Champs-Élysées as part of the Olympics, a familiar sight as the final stage of the Tour de France.
But in 2024, the area will look different with new gardens and greenery, as per the plans we talked about a few months ago.
A new, sustainable Olympic Games
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games is also leading the way for environmental sustainability. This has been a part of the city’s bid to host the event from the very beginning.
Building on the Paris Agreement on climate change adopted in December 2015, the French games is promising a 55% decrease in the carbon footprint, compared to the previous two editions.
Paris is ahead with other targets too, with a focus on youth and gender equality both at the forefront.
Additional sports launching at the Paris Olympics include breakdancing, which joins the skateboarding and BMX freestyle events on the place de la Concorde. This will become an urban park for the event, with room for 37,000 spectators.
And for the first time, exactly 50% male athletes and 50% female athletes are set to participate at the Paris event. This finally delivers full gender equality, up from the 48.8% female representation seen at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Getting tickets for Paris 2024
Pre-registration for tickets opens late this year, in fall or winter.
This will put names into a draw for the next two stages. The first stage opens in February 2023 with the chance to buy multi-event ‘packages.’ Next, single ticket sales begin May 2023.
Finally, by the end of 2023, individual tickets for all remaining events go on general sale from the official Paris 2024 website here.
10 million tickets are available in total, with prices starting from €24 ($26).
Will the Paris 2024 Olympic Games affect real estate?
It’s a question many property owners and investors will be thinking about.
With such an international focus, will the Paris 2024 Olympic Games affect real estate prices? Is a boom in the cards?
The short answer is: we simply don’t know yet.
But we can look back at other host cities and their property markets.
In the past, modest growth occurred alongside the Olympic Games held in Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000), and Athens (2004).
More recently, the London 2012 event drove real estate growth up by 3.3% on average, and up to 5% for properties closer to the official stadiums. Similar growth in Parisian real estate, while not guaranteed, is certainly feasible.
We reported on this topic in more depth when looking at the Eurostar Terminal Olympic renovation back in 2020.
The Olympics will certainly have a notable economic impact, as noted in a study by the Centre for Law and Economics of Sport. This predicts the French economy will enjoy a boost to the tune of €10.7 billion in total, with an uplift in tourism expected to bring in a further €3.5 billion. The latter could be good news for those renting their apartments to Olympic tourists.
Any questions? We’re here to help
It might be one of Europe’s most historic cities, but Paris continues to grow and evolve, as the latest Olympic developments show.
If you have any questions about the Parisian property market, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team at 56Paris.
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