Real estate projects sometimes require original and creative solutions.

A developer believes he has found a land that seems perfectly suitable for his real estate development project. He approaches the owner, but no option seems to be suitable for the transaction. The owner is interested in developing his land, but does not want to part with it. Neither leasing nor condominium appears to be viable options. The solution may well lie in surface ownership or in transfer in emphyteusis.

Surface ownership results from a division of the building into two separate lots: the land and the constructions erected on it. There are now two overlapping property rights: one attached to the land, called the soil, and the other attached to the constructions, called the surface ownership. Surface ownership may also consist of a new construction built on top of an existing one.

With the establishment of surface ownership, it is possible to sell, rent, or mortgage each property independently of the other. Surface ownership can be perpetual or limited to a duration established in the contract that constitutes it. At the expiration of the agreement, one can buy back the property from the other.

Emphyteusis is somewhat of a hybrid right halfway between leasing and property rights. For a certain period of time, a person called the emphyteote is given an immovable property on which he exercises all the rights of an owner. The transfer of the property is conditional on the emphyteote making improvements such as constructions, developments, or plantations that increase its value in a lasting way. Emphyteusis must have a duration of at least 10 years and at most 100 years.

During the duration of emphyteusis, the emphyteote collects all the fruits and income generated by the improvements he has made to the property, but he must also bear all the costs. He can mortgage the property to finance himself and even sell his emphyteote right, subject to what is provided for in the agreement. At the expiration of emphyteusis, the emphyteote returns the property to the owner with all its improvements, free of any charge, without any compensation.

Whatever your real estate development project, the professionals at Notaire-Direct Inc. are here to advise you and offer their expertise.