Michelin unveiled, Thursday April 18, the future face of Cataroux Park. This unique revitalization project in Europe represents an investment of 300 million euros (Photo GCI).
It’s a city within a city. A site that has been partially abandoned for years and is about to rise from its ashes in a new and unique form. If everyone knows the Cataroux site in Clermont, few people have already entered the site. this 42 hectare industrial wasteland, symbol of a bygone past. But Michelin, owner of the complex, wants to bring these places back to life. “We could have done a major real estate program and sold everything, but Cataroux is the heart of the history of Michelin and Clermont. This is where the Radial tire and the famous Micheline were born. We have chosen to make it a place of general interest”announced Florent Menegaux.
An XXL project
So, this century-old wasteland, in the heart of Clermont, will give way by 2028 to an XXL urban planning project. Born in January 2021, at the initiative of the Group and co-constructed with numerous private and public partners in the region, this vast transformation process will mobilize a total of 300 million euros investments, the vast majority of which are private. Ultimately, the future Cataroux park will consist of four distinct poles.
The Manufacture Des Talents and Hall 32, dedicated to training which has already seen the light of day in former factories opposite the Marcel Michelin stadium. A few meters away, there is also the Sustainable Materials Center intended to support startups like Carbios, specialized in the development of innovative materials and recycling sectors. More recently, the Group and its private and public partners laid the foundation stone of the future Collaborative Innovation Hub, the PIC, an 18,000 m² space dedicated to innovation players, which will open its doors in December 2025 and will be able to accommodate up to 2,500 people per day. “The PIC will constitute one of the largest co-living and co-working spaces in Europe,” specifies Michelin.
Bars, restaurants, performance halls…
Finally, Bibendum revealed the contours of the future Ski Areaemblematic center of Cataroux which extends over 10 hectares, embodied by the old vertical test tracks, as famous in Clermont as the Cathedral! Here, a new district open to all will take place. In place of abandoned industrial facilities a large gastronomic hall, a 1,600-seat performance hall, bars, restaurants and the new version of the Michelin Adventure, Manufacture museum. Right next to it will settle the future City of Movement created by theASM Omnisports in partnership with the CHU and theUniversity of Clermont-Ferrand. “This atypical place will aim to raise awareness among the general public of the benefits of physical activity and good nutrition for health,” promises Bibendum, who is very committed to these societal themes.
For this Quartier des Pistes alone, €130 million will be invested mainly by private partners. According to Michelin, 400,000 visitors per year are expected in the future “epicenter of the Auvergne capital”.
Geneviève Colonna d’Istria
