NOVAXIA: Real Estate, Sustainability and ESG
Founded in 2006 by Joachim Azan, former Director of Private Banking at Degroof Petercam, Novaxia has become one of the 300 fastest-growing companies in France since 2013 thanks to a virtuous model that gives new life to real estate.
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1) What is urban recycling ?
Novaxia is a company specialized in urban recycling, the first company with a mission in the real estate sector since 2020. Urban recycling consists of reusing obsolete assets, such as offices or industrial wasteland, in the heart of cities to recycle them and create new housing, for example. The Novaxia One fund addresses the challenges of the city of tomorrow: the shortage of housing in metropolises, the fight against the concretization of green spaces, and the obsolescence and vacancy of usable square meters in the heart of the city. This type of fund is an alternative to yielding real estate and can be proposed to investors who wish to invest in a more responsible manner.
According to its president and co-founder Joachim Azan: "Urban recycling is our know-how and obsolescence our source of value. We aim to reconcile meaning and financial objectives."
2) What is Novaxia's business model ?
The company buys real estate that has become obsolete and resells the recycled buildings as housing. The capital gain from the investment is paid back to the investors of Novaxia's SCPI funds.
A SCPI (Société Civile de Placement Immobilier is the meaning of the acronym SCPI), also called "Pierre Papier investment", is a long-term, unlisted rental property investment, the principle of which is to distribute a regular income from the rents received to its associates, in proportion to the shares invested. It is common for real estate companies to seek to rent out the homes they have converted to increase their resale value. Indeed, the fact that a property is already rented can be an advantage for potential investors, as it allows them to have a more concrete idea of the rental yield that the property could generate.
The Novaxia group has published a turnover of 25 million euros in 2021. This can be explained by the crisis, the development of telecommuting and the rise in interest rates: the real estate market is starting to decline and empty offices have lost their value. However, the group is facing a difficulty in finding empty properties in Paris and has to turn to other major cities. Projects are expected in La Rochelle, Bordeaux and other cities.
3) What are the values defended by Novaxia ?
Since its creation, the group founded in 2006 has made 4 commitments in terms of governance:
- Educate and involve many people in urban recycling.
- Design and distribute responsible funds.
- Develop lending of vacant buildings to impact actors.
- Addressing the housing shortage in tight areas.
4) What is transitional urbanism ?
During these projects, the company uses transitional urban planning, i.e., making buildings available for the duration of procedures. In 2022, the group had 19 artists come to a building in Aubervilliers, with more than 3,000 square meters available for 6 months, while administrative procedures were being completed.
As a company with a mission, Novaxia has long supported transitional urbanism, a temporary occupation of premises that has a real social impact.
In the years to come, Novaxia intends to multiply its projects, not only in France, but always for the benefit of the greatest number!
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