Beneath the bustle of shoppers on the Champs-Elysees, a new retail logistics hub is taking shape.
Photographer: Marie Magnin/BloombergThe Retail Storage Hiding Under the Champs-Elysees
As parking lots empty out in Paris's city center, retail logistics hubs are moving in. From there, goods can be transported a short distance by bike.
Eight stories under the Champs-Elysees — deeper than the bottom of the Seine — the future of logistics is taking shape in a former parking garage.
Commercial real estate firm Mont Thabor Group bought the garage in early 2020 with an eye towards upgrading it, but Covid crystallized Parisians’ desire to reduce car traffic and protect local merchants. Soon, Mayor Anne Hidalgo would announce the “15-minute city,” with a goal that most retail and services, and some employment opportunities, would be within a 15-minute bike or transit ride of every residence. Suddenly the idea of another underground garage seemed out of date.