FabricAlpe: Grenoble's new economic zone project

Destroy everything to rebuild everything. It is with this motto that work on the new business district, FabricAlpe, will begin in 2026, four years after demolitions began. This former industrial wasteland of nearly ten hectares will soon be transformed into an economic activity district. This project is expected to accommodate numerous new businesses and ultimately create between 1,000 and 1,200 jobs. This is a unique opportunity for Grenoble-Alpes Métropole—which has decided to create a Concerted Development Zone (ZAC) for the occasion—to meet the land demand of businesses, thus increasing the region's dynamism.

The unique feature of this project is that, in addition to being physically included in the metropolitan area, this area being built south of Grenoble, straddling Echirolles, the project also included residents in its implementation. Between November 2021 and March 2022, an initial consultation involved residents and other stakeholders in the urban area.

This participation highlighted the relatively general support of residents for this project. However, many expressed a genuine desire to change the current image of the site. Participants also expressed a desire for contrasts and aesthetics in the construction of future buildings, in order to avoid the dull homogeneity of industrial zones and to leave the region's mountains visible.

Another major concern for locals is to open up the site and better connect Grenoble and Echirolles. To achieve this goal, participants propose promoting bicycle and pedestrian traffic, as well as improving public transport services. They also specify that this must be done while taking into account the utility vehicles and cars that use these thoroughfares.

One point on which opinions fail to converge, however, is the question of relocating the reception area for travellers within the industrial site. While the location is controversial, there is a consensus on the need to better integrate and equip this reception area within the site.

More recently, another contribution was organized between May and June 2025.

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While we often tend to imagine economic districts as concrete areas, where nature has no place, this project attempts to oppose this idea. To begin with, by investing in an already industrialized area, this undertaking avoids artificializing new spaces. And beyond simply not industrializing natural spaces, the metropolis also intends to leave a significant portion for green spaces (nearly two hectares). Thus, the participants propose in particular integrating dense green spaces on walking paths, cool islands, or even areas for dogs and bird nesting boxes into the city. Some participants even go so far as to raise the possibility of developing urban agriculture, speaking of shared gardens or urban vegetable plots.

Today, Grenoble-Alpes Métropole says it is ready to address the majority of residents' concerns. In fact, most of the opinions expressed are broadly in line with the metropolis's original intentions.