INDIGO, the world leader in parking, individual mobility solutions and urban services, in partnership with CORSALIS, a real estate operator specialised in urban logistics and distribution, has started converting Parking Foch, one of the largest car parks in Paris, into a pioneering urban services hub. This large-scale two-year project aims to address the challenges arising from urban mobility and foster low-carbon mobility.
It involves creating a 12,000 sqm urban logistics facility, a tour coach depot and a 200-stand Cyclopark bicycle parking area.
The works, which began on Monday 31 March, revolve around creating a 12,000 sq. metre urban logistics facility for last-kilometre deliveries using eco-friendly vehicles, along with a depot for tour coaches and an area to park 200 power-assisted and regular bicycles. The goal with the conversion is to free up city traffic and encourage clean urban mobility.
By overhauling this 2,030-space car park in a strategic location between the Arc de Triomphe and avenue Malakoff near the western edge of Paris, INDIGO and CORSALIS intend to tackle the issues linked to growth in city-centre deliveries – 200,000 parcels are delivered per day in Paris – by combining their expertise at the leading edge of their respective fields. INDIGO will pool its skills in infrastructure and operation; CORSALIS its skills in logistics and custom-outfitting facilities.
The Parking Foch metamorphosis: a new chapter for mobility in Paris
Parking Foch was built in 1967 under the eponymous avenue – one of the city’s quintessential landmarks – and notwithstanding its relatively small footprint has an impressive volume (10 by 30 by 500 metres).
The revamp that INDIGO is undertaking, in support of Paris City Council’s strategy, involves turning this four-level structure into a proper urban services hub including parking spaces, a depot for tour coaches and an urban logistics area (ULA) – while keeping the pre-pound car park and shooting gallery already in operation in the building. The new ULA, which will be on the first and fourth levels, will enable last-kilometre logistics. It will be designed to streamline truck unloading and facilitate the use of cargo bikes, electric vans and other sustainable means of transport.
This project stems from conversations that INDIGO started in 2020 around the car parks of the future, with experts in mobility and urban architecture including Dominique Perrault , and more recently through the Circular Urban Infrastructures chair it set up with the Ecole des Ingénieurs de la Ville de Paris (EIVP).
The Foch project will ease congestion and improve quality of life for people living in Paris – and puts the French capital at the forefront of sustainable urban planning and innovative infrastructure upcycling.
By 2026, Indigo will have 20,000 sq. metres of urban logistics facilities up and running at three repurposed structures in Paris.
A technical platform for urban logistics
The project encompasses optimised logistics zones on several levels, separate areas for storage and distribution, and a specific path for incoming goods. The facility is designed to accommodate various types of vehicles – heavy-duty trucks, light-duty vans and cargo bikes – and will have bespoke systems to simplify loading and unloading. It will also have parking spaces with EV charging stands to encourage sustainable mobility.
Following on from INDIGO’s other car park overhauls – including the dedicated and secure hubs for Urbeez in Brussels to enable eco-friendly local deliveries, and the Pressoir de Bercy car park revamp it recently carried out with Corsalis – this new project exemplifies its shift from operating car parks to operating urban services.
This operation stems from a wide-ranging discussion that INDIGO has started about the role of parking infrastructure and its vital contribution to optimising mobility in city centres. We are certain that parking spaces – beyond their primary purpose – have a key role to play in city transformation. The Foch project is an example of this vision in action: we are recasting a parking structure into a multipurpose services hub that addresses the challenges of urban logistics and active mobility, and will ultimately improve quality of life for city-dwellers.
Sébastien Fraisse
President of the Executive Board
Foch is the centrepiece of a 20,000 sq. metre pilot project we are rolling out in Paris to actively advance the City Council’s strategy for logistics. This conversion – the largest ever in a car park in Paris – is a glimpse into what car parks will look like tomorrow: it will be hybrid and scalable. The car parks of the future will house urban logistics bases as well as data centres, parcel pick-up points, concierge services, traditional parking areas, solutions to enable active mobility, and more: they will be urban service platforms with modular solutions tailored to the requirements of cities and the people living in them.
Xavier Heulin
Deputy Managing Director, Urban Shift
In a setting where freight accounts for 20% of urban traffic and 30% of road use, the car park’s central location is an advantage for transport and distribution companies. This project is a new opportunity to put our technical expertise to work, adapting property assets to logistics operators’ requirements. The Parking Foch conversion directly addresses the need to optimise flows of goods in city centres while accommodating the restrictions built into existing infrastructure.
Rémi Goléger
Associate Director, CORSALIS
