At the time the Concession Agreement was signed between the governments and Eurotunnel, Eurotunnel was entrusted with a local development mission by the French government and local authorities. For this purpose, Eurotunnel was given large landed properties, close to the Eurotunnel Terminal in Coquelles (France), which with the latter spreads around 1,000 hectares.

This development role stems from considering the Channel Tunnel and its Shuttles not just as an efficient transport system, but also as an engine of economic growth for Calais region which also features geographical and economic advantages:

• Intrinsic strengths of the location
  
  
  • Central position on the coastal area of the North-Pas-de-Calais region
  • Calais and its suburbs
  • Easy access via the A16, A26 and A 25 motorways
  • At the portal of the Channel Tunnel
  • High speed railway lines (via Frethun station), 30 mins from and to Lille, 1hour 30mins from and to Paris, London and Brussels
  • A the centre of the traffic flows between the UK, Northern and Southern Europe.
• Economic strengths of the area
  
  
  • A commercial catchment area of over 5 million people, living within a 90 mins radius by road from Coquelles
  • At the heart of the cross-Channel traffic
  • A cross-border clientele, British, Belgian, French.
    

Within its mission as a developer, Eurotunnel is working to increase the economic and tourism appeal of the local area up to a European level, with the objectives to:

• Accomodate retail activities
• Reinforce the tourism offer in order to retain the cross-Channel traffic flows in the local area and in the region - 7 million passengers travelled on Eurotunnel Shuttles in 2008
• Contribute to the local economic development, which includes new jobs
• Guarantee a high quality level in terms of products, architecture and environment.
   

Landed properties include in particular:

• ZAC I, of c.700 ha in Coquelles, an area where Eurotunnel Terminal and Cité-Europe are built
• ZAC II, of c.80 ha, located between ZAC I eand the town of Calais
• Zone 360, of c.25 ha, located in between the Channel Tunnel portal and Frethun station.

For nearly 15 years, Eurotunnel has developed many sites within this area, which have generated around €220M of investment and created around 2,500 direct or related jobs. The ZAC I development strategy revolves around four activities:

• Retail
  
  
  • Cité-Europe shopping centre, opened in March 1995,  includes 1 hypermarket, 12 medium-sized shops, 120 small outlets, 2 leisure centres, 4,200 parking spaces and some rest areas; in 2008, it was visited by 8 million shoppers.
  • Usine Côte d’Opale, opened in December 2003, offering designer goods (clothes and household products) at discounted prices, with 2 food courts and 800 parking spaces.
  • Electro Dépôt shop, opened in 2008, which offers household and domestic appliances, sound, video and multimedia goods at discounted prices.

• Leisure
  
  
  • Gaumont multiplex cinema, opened in March 1995, with 12 screens
  • Cité Gourmande, the food court of Cité-Europe, is home to around 20 restaurants and cafés.
    

• Hotels
  
  
  • 3 hotels of the Groupe Accor (Suite Hôtel, hôtel Ibis and Etap Hôtel), opened in November 2002, offer 285 rooms in total, which create added opportunities for short-term stays, and contribute to the tourism development of the region.
    

• A Business park
  
  
  • Strategically located for the development of businesses, the Business park covers 53,000 m² of which 25,000 m² is building land
  • Establishment of many service industries such as a private hospital, a medical laboratory, Eurotunnel head office Medef Littoral/Pas-de-Calais and Habitat 62/59 head offices as well as many office buildings.
    

Completing this area is now one of the priorities of Eurotunnel’s property development department, with to date 4 signed preliminary agreements for new retail outlets.
 

To guarantee a high quality level of architecture, Eurotunnel has worked so far with prestigious architects responsible for the various buildings on the site such as Paul Andreu (Cité-Europe), Jean-Marie Charpentier (Terminal Passagers d’Eurotunnel), and Jean-Michel Wilmotte (Usine Côte d’Opale).

Similarly, Eurotunnel has striven to create a top quality site in terms of environment and landscaping, in collaboration with Yann Kersalé (lighting expert) and Alain Provost (landscape artist and creator of urban furniture).

Eurotunnel has signed a partnership agreement with the Pas-de-Calais regional council in January 2009. Some 36 tangible projects are already covered under this agreement, including making Sangatte a tourist destination, and creating facilities for teams participating in the London 2012 Olympics and facilitating their transport via the Channel Tunnel.