The market halls of Bagnols-sur-Cèze: a private project supported by the municipality and the Occitanie Region

On the right, the project leader of the Halles de la Cèze, Anthony Gazan. Here in September 2023. Archives – Midi Libre

The structure has closed. 

"  A project at €1,150,000. The rehabilitation work on the old cinema located at 3 chemin de Capite in Bagnols has begun", reported an article from Midi Libre in April 2022, a year before the opening of the market halls. Anthony Gazan, the leader of this major project, had bought this former cinema in 2008. In another article, published in January 2022, the Bagnolais, real estate professional and developer at the head of Aga Groupe, explained: “Our priority is to create a friendly place where families can meet.” He then specified that he was betting on fighting against “commercial evasion. I have the moral support of the mayor of Bagnols, it's important to launch something". 

Moral support  

Moral support also took the form of a resolution voted unanimously at the Bagnols municipal council on September 14, 2022. Entitled “Loan guarantee for SASU AGEA, the sponsor of the Halles de la Cèze project”, the resolution concerned the fact“to provide its financial guarantee of up to 50% for the repayment of all sums due in principal, interest, late payment interest, compensation, costs and accessories under the loan contract entered into by SASU AGEA with Banque des Territoires”.
The City has therefore not paid out a single euro, it is the guarantor of the loan (see also “Sixteen months after their opening, the Halles de la Cèze have closed”). And for the moment, no one knows the financial situation of the debtor.

A project labeled by the Action Coeur de Ville program

In March 2023, the town hall already explained: “The Halles de la Cèze project has officially been certified by the Action Cœur de Ville program, insofar as the latter fully contribute to restoring attractiveness and dynamism to the city center. In this context, the project benefited from a zero-interest loan from the Banque des Territoires, for which the City acted as guarantor, by opting for the mortgage (an essential condition for obtaining the loan). The Town Hall reminds that no sum of money has been paid […] The General Code of Local Authorities allows a legal entity under public or private law to benefit from a loan guarantee, allowing the carrying out of such an operation. Finally, the town hall reminds us that this project is the winner of the call for projects "reclaiming wasteland" from the Occitanie Region."
Indeed, the Occitanie Region paid the project a subsidy of 66,987€, as part of the "Reclaiming wasteland in Occitanie" program.

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