Author: lgi

In Paris, the Coco & rico workshop is rethinking design through local production and environmental commitment.

Clea Polar, Gabriel Defrocourt, and Jules de Breuyck — all passionate about textile design — founded this workshop to highlight French craftsmanship by producing clothing and accessories that are 100% made in France, with a focus on short supply chains and positive impact. Here, fashion meets conscience: eco-friendly materials, limited editions, mindful production… A network of workshops ensures both the quality of the products and adherence to ethical values. Coco & Rico’s mission is to democratize Made in France and ethical fashion.

👏 Hats off to Coco & rico for proving that fashion can be beautiful, local and responsible.

Learn more about Coco & rico

Heritage conversion, brand repositioning, offer diversification — the Lille metropolitan area is establishing itself as a prime destination for hotel investors.

Among them, EXTENDAM, a committed player of the transformation of the sector, is supporting several flagship projects in the city, such as:

✅ The upcoming Residence Inn by Marriott, designed for long stays
✅ The arrival of Babel Community, a new generation of hybrid hostels

In a context of increasing visitor numbers (+2 pts in 2024) and limited heritage supply, EXTENDAM is helping meet the growing demand for formats tailored to new uses.

🎯 A clear positioning: creating long-term value in regional cities by betting on high-potential assets and locally rooted hospitality.

Read Arnaud Deltenre’s article in Voyages d’Affaires

110 million pairs of glasses are sitting unused in drawers across France. Ophélie Vanbremeersch decided to give them a second life with Les Lunettes de Zac, an initiative born from a simple question she asked herself as a teenager: what happens to our old glasses?

Founded in 2020, the start-up collects, sorts, and refurbishes unused glasses, relying on a network of 1,500 collection points across the country. In 2024 alone, 60,000 pairs per month were recovered, restored, and put back into circulation.

✨ What makes the project unique:

– Strong social impact through a partnership with Groupe VITAMINE T, a social inclusion company

– Local production with measurable environmental benefits

– An innovative circular economy model tested in post offices and second-hand retail corners

Les Lunettes de Zac brings together inclusion, circular economy, and long-term vision. A project built with patience, purpose… and resilience.

📖 Read Ophélie’s full interview

On April 28 in Bercy, the French Ministers of the Economy and Tourism brought together funds and investors to accelerate the modernization of the French tourism industry.

🔍 Stated goal: modernize the offer, support the ecological transition, and strengthen France’s position as the world’s leading sustainable destination.

The event was also an opportunity for Jean-Marc Palhon, Chairman of EXTENDAM, to highlight the major challenges in transforming the French hotel sector and the relevance of private equity investment in hospitality.

💡 A strong signal for private investors, who are now called upon to support the upscale transformation and sustainable shift of the tourism offer.

Read Linda Lainé’s article in L’Echo Touristique

On a site made up of 11 buildings — some under safety hazard orders — Financière Saint James and REDMAN, in collaboration with DATA ARCHITECTES and THINK TANK architecture, carried out a large-scale transformation as part of a real estate development contract: over 10,000 sqm combining offices, social housing, and shops, in the 10th arrondissement of Paris.

For Business Immo, Nicolas Decloquement (Deputy CEO of REDMAN), Gregory Zeitoun (Director of Financière Saint James), and Colin Reynier (co-founder of DATA ARCHITECTES) revisit this flagship operation, conducted with a focus on reuse and sustainability. The project was conducted hand in hand with the City of Paris through a negotiated urban planning approach to meet both current and future needs of the neighborhood.

🔎 This complex project anticipates the principles of Paris’s future bioclimatic local urban plan (PLU).

💬 “We reimagined the investor/developer relationship by going beyond legal and contractual considerations, choosing instead to share both challenges and successes with agility over the long term” — Nicolas Decloquement, Deputy CEO of REDMAN

Read the interview by Luc-Etienne Rouillard Laffond in Business Immo

At the 7th edition of La Fabrique du Tourisme, the think tank driven by EXTENDAM, MKG Consulting, and Bpifrance, one key question was explored: Can AI contribute to a more sustainable hotel industry?

From customer experience personalization to energy optimization and reducing F&B impact, artificial intelligence is opening up new horizons for the hospitality sector.

Bertrand Pullès (EXTENDAM) points out: “In the coming years, hospitality will evolve through the influence of big data and AI, enabling not only enhanced personalization and service optimization, but also better understanding of environmental and social impacts”.

This shift is progressive, with challenges still to address, but AI holds great promise in reconciling economic performance and responsibility.

Read Nathalie Foulon’s article in Industrie Hôtelière

Managing tourist flows, optimizing energy use, reducing waste, personalizing services… Artificial Intelligence is opening new possibilities for the hotel industry.

But where do we actually stand today?
What are the real applications?
What are the limitations?

La Fabrique du Tourisme has published a report based on discussions between tourism professionals, technology experts and students from ESSEC Business School.

🎯 Objective: understand how AI can support the sector’s transformation while maintaining a balance between innovation and human interaction.

Adoption is still gradual, and its impacts are hard to measure — but the potential is immense.
The hospitality industry of tomorrow will be built at the crossroads of technology and local roots.

Full report available here

From 29 rooms to 600, the SHG adventure is more than a story of growth — it’s the expression of a family and entrepreneurial vision, carried by Antoine Falleur, and now handed over in a redesigned and expanded framework that stays true to its essence.

According to Bertrand Pullès (EXTENDAM), each transmission is unique. There’s no universal formula, but one crucial starting point: shared values — the real foundation of a lasting project.

Jérôme Bosc – MRICS (ALBORAN | Hotels & Hospitality) highlights the human dimension: teams, life paths, and faces behind every hotel are what give the project its strength. This same human foundation, combined with local and collective ambition, now drives the momentum toward Bourges 2028.

What this operation reveals:

→ A transition built on clarity and trust
→ A strong local anchoring in a territory poised for European visibility
→ A collective entrepreneurial dynamic, balancing operational know-how, strategic support, and shared vision

Bourges, designated European Capital of Culture, is preparing to welcome 1 million tourists by 2028 — and this renewed, restructured hotel portfolio will be one of its cornerstones.

Read the full article on Business Immo (subscriber access only)

Watch the interview on the Hospitality ON channel

In its latest article, Le Monde de l’Énergie explores the rise of crowdfunding dedicated to the energy transition.

With 11.5% growth in 2023, an average return of 6.6%, and an almost zero default rate, this model is attracting more and more savers who want to align ecological convictions with financial investments.

→ Among the featured platforms, Énergie Partagée stands out for its cooperative model and commitment to putting citizens back at the heart of projects.

A historic player in impact crowdequity, Énergie Partagée supports local initiatives with shared governance, aiming for territorial energy autonomy.

A way to fund the transition — and take part in it.

Read the article here

Once the headquarters of France’s National Forestry Office (ONF), this iconic example of 1970s naturalist architecture has been revitalized, blending poetry and technique in a design that engages with what was already there.

Through this restructuring, Racine takes on a new role in its neighborhood, becoming a new urban beacon.

Its reinvention is rooted in fertile ground and now rises majestically toward the sky.

Maud Caubet’s work focused on several key principles:

✔️ Building with the existing: reinvesting underground spaces by turning parking levels into bright, high-quality spaces

✔️ Creating a public urban connection between two neighborhoods
Racine acts as a bridge between Boulevard de Saint-Mandé and Rue de Picpus, returning a new vegetated public space to the city

✔️ Prefiguring reversible uses
Offices, housing, hotel… Racine can now adapt over time to the neighborhood’s evolving needs without requiring major construction

✔️ Reaching for the sky with a bioclimatic crown
A new rooftop crown completes the green roof on the ground extension and integrates an educational urban farm — a transparent, light-filled space offering unique views of Paris

✔️ Reuse and craftsmanship
4 tons of materials were recovered and reused off-site by woodworking associations. The project called on skilled craftspeople for specialized restoration work

✔️ Vegetation as a primary material
Present on every floor, functional greenery enhances occupant well-being and strengthens the site’s biodiversity and cooling role within the neighborhood

📖 Read the article by Laurence Albert in Les Echos

📸 Photo credits: Laurent Kronental