Page 149 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 6

Central versus Peripheral High-Speed Rail Stations: Opportunities For Companies to Relocate?
The cases of Reims Central Station and Champagne-Ardenne Station

Bezannes is not (yet) part of the Reims built‐up area, although the new business park has
helped to close the gap somewhat. Nevertheless, Bezannes has always participated in the
intermunicipal structures covering Reims and its suburbs, from the District of Reims created in
1964 to the Urban Community of Greater Reims (Communauté Urbaine du Grand Reims) that
came into being on 1 January 2017. Moreover, although the mayor of Bezannes was initially
against the location of an HSR station within the village boundaries, a compromise was found
with the intermunicipal structure in the form of a 172‐hectare ZAD (deferred‐development
area) (Figure 4). As with the area around the central station, the aim here was to promote a
mix of functions, with a third of the area dedicated to housing, a third to offices, businesses
and services, and the final third given over to green spaces. The laying of the foundation stone
took place on 1 February 2006. However, the area’s development has been very slow: the first
business premises were only built in 2010, followed in 2011 by a hotel and a head office (for
the Frey group, with 2,321 m² of floor space), and in 2012 by two office buildings and the head
office of an architecture firm.

The following year, 2013, saw significant developments (a 59‐unit residential complex, a second
hotel, a new office block, and the arrival of the luxury‐goods firm Cartier International). In
2014, a new medical services complex and, in 2015, two new office and business complexes
were built. In 2016, five new projects were initiated (including housing projects, a head office
or one of France’s largest sugar manufacturers and the first phase of a private hospital with the
construction of a 112bed nursing home).

Figure 4. The Champagne‐Ardenne Station business park

International Congress on High-speed Rail: Technologies and Long Term Impacts - Ciudad Real (Spain) - 25th anniversary Madrid-Sevilla corridor 147