The funding source is the Caisse des Depots et Consignations, which is making available to local developers some €500 million ($611 million) for their projects. But, according to the group's Gilbert Emont, the funding is being reserved specifically for urban renewal projects.

At yesterday morning's Mayors' Symposium, keynoter Emont explained that this capital will be deployed in such cities as Marseilles, Lyon, Perpignan and Saint Etienne. He noted that the range of projects covers the full spectrum of property types, including the "clean-up of industrial wasteland." Middle-class and low-income housing will also be earmarked. "Our duty is to bring support to all of these projects," he told the audience. In an interview after the session, Emont explained to GlobeSt.com that developers in need of financial support can contact the group and petition for the infusion. The upshot for the group, obviously, is a piece of the action, and much like a US-based REIT, the group's investment capital is built upon its investors inflow and returns on current real estate investments.

But unlike an American REIT, the model stretches back to just after the Napoleonic wars. At the time, said Emont, the French Government created a non-governmental organization with the mission to protect private investments from usury by the likes of another dictator. The result of that edict was the Caisse des Depots. Despite the deep history, Emont stated that the group is forward thinking in terms of its investment models. "We are careful not to rebuild based on today's market value," he told the crowd, "but rather on market values in the long term."