Real Estate: The RATP Group, a Key Player in Urban Development

Real estate plays a pivotal role between the Group's activities and the territories in an increasingly complex context: challenges to perceived excessive density, environmental concerns, evolving uses, social inequalities, and the pursuit of efficiency.

The objectives are clear: to support the industrial transformation of mobility, act as a partner to local authorities, and contribute to building the city of tomorrow by developing new affordable housing, offices, student residences, green spaces, and public facilities. Through its urban integration policy, the RATP Group is helping transform neighborhoods and working daily for a better quality of urban life.

As a result, over 4,000 housing units will be built on RATP land in Île-de-France by 2032, with half of them designated as social housing.

The RATP Group is one of the largest landowners in Île-de-France, with a total property portfolio of 740 hectares (slightly larger than the area of Paris' 13th arrondissement), including: 500 hectares of railway tracks, 50 hectares of rail maintenance workshops, 70 hectares of bus depots, 120 hectares of various types of buildings (social, sports, logistics, etc.), and 400,000 m² of office buildings. Additionally, RATP Habitat, the Group's social housing entity, owns more than 8,600 housing units.

A unique aspect of this portfolio is that much of it is still located within Paris, where the Group remains one of the last industrial operators. These centrally located infrastructures help ensure efficient service for passengers.

The RATP Group has developed specialized urban and real estate expertise to fulfill its mission as a builder, manager, and operator of urban mobility in the Île-de-France region. Recognizing the importance of these activities in the urban space and their structural role, the Group has developed a tailored approach to manage mixed-use operations. This approach preserves its infrastructures and industrial sites within cities, while utilizing its land to promote more harmonious urban development, fostering functional diversity and inclusion.

In 1959, the subsidiary Logis Transports (now RATP Habitat) was created, specializing in social housing. The goal at the time was to provide housing near RATP facilities for employees who needed to reach their workplaces at hours when neither buses nor metros were running. Over the years, more than 8,600 housing units have been built, and in line with the regulatory requirements for social housing providers, occupancy has gradually expanded beyond RATP employees to include other families.

In 1990, the subsidiary SEDP (now RATP Real Estate) was established to strengthen the project management capabilities of the RATP Group, providing it with a dedicated arm for the operational oversight of modernization projects on the Group's major sites.

Until the early 2000s, the Group pursued an ambitious real estate policy to enhance and develop the industrial wastelands left over from the construction of network infrastructure in the 20th century.

As available wastelands became increasingly scarce, more complex projects emerged, intertwined with industrial activities. The Group then systematically implemented an urban integration strategy, supported by the unprecedented transformation of sites to meet transport needs: the energy transition of bus depots, the renewal of bus and rail rolling stock, and the necessary adaptation of maintenance workshops. The company rebuilds, rehabilitates, transforms, and modernizes its workshops, integrating them into modern developments that include housing, offices, shops, public facilities, and green spaces, thereby blending different uses and populations.

The synergy between industrial projects and the development of urban mobility has become a hallmark of the Group's real estate operations.

The Group's Real Estate Directorate, responsible for project management, relies on RATP Solutions Ville, a development subsidiary that encompasses two dedicated structures for real estate activities: RATP Habitat and RATP Real Estate.

The legitimacy gained from the Group's projects now enables it to drive development well beyond its historical activities and land holdings.

• Through its subsidiary RATP Solutions Ville, the RATP Group now carries out most real estate operations on its land in co-promotion. This development approach extends beyond its land.
• The Group, through RATP Solutions Ville, is now responding, as part of consortiums, to several calls for tenders where its expertise is particularly relevant in addressing complex, multifaceted issues (real estate, energy, mobility, social and inclusive housing, environmental challenges) and unconventional project structures.

The real estate policy has been realized through the implementation of numerous projects over the past 25 years, particularly the creation of many housing units in Île-de-France and public facilities (daycare centers, sports facilities, schools, shops, and green spaces) that have contributed to the transformation of neighborhoods.

Three major sites are currently undergoing restructuring:

• The restructuring of the Belliard bus depot, located in the northern part of the 18th arrondissement of Paris, covering an area of 4 hectares.
• The restructuring of the Vaugirard workshops on a site spanning 2.3 hectares in the 15th arrondissement of Paris.
• The restructuring of the Belgrand - Saint Fargeau site in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, covering an area of 1.5 hectares. This project is being undertaken through a collaborative urban design approach.

Two sites have already been completed:

• The restructuring of the Italie workshops, covering an area of 1.2 hectares in the 13th arrondissement.
• The restructuring of the Netter-Debergue and Bizot sites in the 12th arrondissement.

Over time, the Group has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to environmental concerns (eco-design, energy management, noise and vibration control, and management of classified installations for environmental protection—ICPE*), with a genuine architectural standard aimed at ensuring harmonious integration into the urban landscape.

For this reason, the highest environmental standards, such as Haute Qualité Environnementale (HQE) and E + C-, are targeted for almost all constructed buildings, resulting in significant energy and financial gains throughout their lifespan.

Eco-design is incorporated into all industrial or mixed-use projects, featuring elements such as natural ventilation, light wells, and green roofs.

The Group is exploring the potential for green spaces on RATP's real estate (tertiary and industrial buildings), including urban agriculture. By 2020, more than 2 hectares of vegetation had been established, including 1,500 m² dedicated to urban agriculture across the entire portfolio managed by the Group.

Consult our expertise booklet dedicated to low-carbon real estate.

Discover the real estate policy implemented within the RATP Group.

• The transformation of the AP-HP headquarters entrusted to the consortium of BNP Paribas Real Estate, Apsys, and RATP Solutions Ville: Learn more.
• The RATP Habitat headquarters is the winner of the 2022 Regional Wood Construction Award: Learn more.
• The RATP Group and Woodeum are co-promoting the construction of a housing program designed with solid wood: Learn more.