Monaco has unveiled the world’s most expensive real estate development with $200 million homes and apartments priced at $100,000 per square meter.
The opening of the Mareterra development on Anse du Portier in Monaco was celebrated on Wednesday with concerts, fireworks and a drone display.
Mareterra is built on six hectares of land reclaimed from the sea. It includes four villas valued at $200 million each, as well as 100 apartments reportedly valued at more than $100,000 per square meter.
In comparison, the most expensive areas of Paris cost around $15,000 per square meter.
In Monaco, home to the largest proportion of the world’s billionaires, high prices are still considered extraordinary.
But most of the penthouses, townhouses and villas have already been purchased.
“It has been a great commercial success,” Guy Thomas Levy-Soussan, administrator of the consortium that built Mareterra at an estimated cost of $2.1 billion, told Congress. Times.
Prince Albert of Monaco attended the opening of the new development and highlighted Mareterra’s environmental credentials.
Mareterra was built on six hectares of land reclaimed from the sea. It includes four villas valued at $200 million each, as well as 100 apartments reportedly valued at more than $100,000 per square meter.
There are several luxury apartments built in Mareterra, like the ones shown above.
Prince Albert II of Monaco (center) cuts the ribbon alongside Princess Charlene of Monaco (left) and Prince Jacques (center) during the inauguration of the new ‘Mareterra’ district in Monaco, December 4, 2024.
Monaco only has about 39,000 residents living on just 208 hectares, after France seized 95 percent of Monaco’s land in exchange for supporting its sovereignty in 1861.
Real estate agents said this was barely enough to cover the wealthy looking to move to Monaco, who are attracted to the small country because of the absence of income taxes and low crime rates.
To make room for future residents, officials say they can only build skyscrapers upward or expand toward the sea.
The country has already expanded by about 60 hectares into the Mediterranean over the last century, but officials said Mareterra was an initiative like no other.
“Mareterra is a primarily pedestrian district encompassing a lushly planted park, an elegant promenade, a small port, underground parking and both residential and commercial offerings,” the advertising brochure states.
The promoters have described Mareterra as an “ecodistrict” that prioritizes “a series of measures related to the ecosystem, sustainability and responsible development of the site.”
One of these measures is the relocation of a marine plant called posidonia, of which 500 square meters were moved elsewhere. from the sea to prevent its destruction and a coral reef was protected.
But a marine biologist at the University of Nice, Alexandre Meinesz, told the Libération newspaper that marine biodiversity had been “massacred.”
This photo taken on November 7, 2019 shows what the area looked like before Mareterra was built.
This photograph taken on November 14, 2024 shows Mareterra at Anse du Portier in Monaco in its final stages.
Prince Albert II of Monaco (right) attends with Princess Charlene of Monaco (left), Princess Gabriella (center-right) and Prince Jacques the inauguration of the ‘Place Princesse Gabriella’ in the new ‘Mareterra’ district of Monaco, December 4, 2024
General views of the future extension known as ‘Anse du Portier’ or ‘Mareterra’
Prince Albert of Monaco attended the opening of the new development and highlighted Mareterra’s environmental credentials
Prince Albert, whose reign has been marred by rumors of marital discord and corruption, did not let criticism deter him from celebrating the new milestone.
Also in attendance were his two children and his wife, Zimbabwe-born Princess Charlene, who spent almost a year away from Albert in South Africa during 2021, reportedly for health reasons, sparking rumors that their marriage was on the rocks.
Albert was also accused of real estate corruption by Les Dossiers du Rocher, a website created anonymously.
The accusations were linked to the palace due to hacked emails between Alberto’s advisors.