Post 6 min read
At 19 boulevard du Larvotto, the Principality is preparing one of its tightest building sites. Larvotto Supérieur will deliver 35 state-owned homes for Monegasque nationals, along with 94 parking spaces and, deep below them, a data centre reserved for Monaco Telecom.
The plot covers roughly 1,080 square metres and drops about 17 metres from one side to the other. Elected officials wanted a taller building. The Government refused, and its reasoning says a great deal about how Monaco builds on the little land it has left.
Monaco’s remaining building land tends to come in fragments, and this parcel is a textbook case. It sits on the steep stretch of boulevard du Larvotto, hemmed in by established residences such as La Radieuse, La Tour du Larvotto and the Floridian Palace.
The address points toward the Larvotto waterfront district. Monaco’s planning code, however, places the site in zone 1, known as L’Annonciade, within the quartier ordonnancé of La Rousse. That distinction matters to anyone who tracks prices by district, as the figures further down show.
The Direction des Travaux Publics leads the project on behalf of the Government. It belongs to the Plan National pour le Logement des Monégasques, which the Sovereign Prince presented in March 2019 to expand the State’s housing stock for its citizens.
Atelier Boisson + Boisson Architectes (ABBA) designed the building so that it never reads as a single mass from the street. Its façade combines curved slabs with continuous balconies broken by setbacks. A central opening then splits the volume in two, letting light and views pass through the middle.
Part of the façade will also wear a double-skin planted mesh. Climbing plants on this light, perforated screen will filter sunlight and privacy as the seasons turn.
Inside, every apartment will be dual-aspect. Because the load-bearing structure sits within the party walls, floor plans can stay flexible over time. The frame combines timber and concrete, and the project targets both HQE and BD2M certification, the latter being Monaco’s standard for sustainable Mediterranean building.
Homes will start on the second floor, above a deliberately open ground level crossed by a planted pedestrian path. At its centre, the building stops at ten floors above ground. Meanwhile, a slab over the boulevard will carry a new green space and shield residents from traffic noise.
Larvotto Supérieur at a Glance
The lower levels hold the project’s most unusual feature. Below the parking floors, the bill reserves about 1,318 square metres for a Monaco Telecom data centre. When the scheme first went public in 2024, presentations described four basement levels, two of them dedicated to this facility.
Interestingly, the bill lists the data centre as an option rather than a fixed element. Still, the Government maintains that it featured in the specification from the outset and meets the operator’s requirements.
Several councillors raised practical concerns during the April 2026 debate. Franck Julien asked how the power supply, permanent cooling, backup batteries and generators had been sized. He also wanted to know whether future residents could be reassured. In reply, Céline Caron-Dagioni, Minister for Public Works, the Environment and Urban Development, said the Government attaches great importance to the equipment and the homes coexisting without nuisance.
Parking grew too. The 2024 scheme showed 37 car spaces and an area for two-wheelers, whereas the current programme counts 94 spaces. That increase follows an extension of the underground works beneath the boulevard itself.
In Monaco, land in the State’s public domain is inalienable. Before anyone can build on it, a law must first withdraw it from that domain, a step known as désaffectation. Our guide to how Monaco governs what it builds explains the wider framework.
Bill no. 1.123, tabled on 18 February 2026, covers two strips along boulevard du Larvotto. The first, about 459 square metres, consists of embankment and pavement. The second, about 656 square metres, lies in the tréfonds, the subsoil beneath embankment, pavement and roadway. Together, they add roughly 1,115 square metres to the project’s land base.
The National Council adopted the text unanimously on 2 April 2026. That vote unified all the land the project needs, both at street level and underground. The full text of the bill remains available on Legimonaco.
With demand for state housing so strong, councillors asked the obvious question: why not add floors? Speaking for the finance committee, rapporteur Maryse Battaglia said the committee deeply regretted the Government’s refusal. She also promised to keep pressing the point.
The Government held firm. According to the Minister, extra height would deepen the canyon effect along the boulevard and breach setback rules. Behind the building stands La Radieuse, about 12 metres away, while La Tour du Larvotto sits roughly 8 metres off.
National Council President Thomas Brezzo remained unconvinced. As Monaco Hebdo reported, he warned the Government against hiding behind constraints that could be multiplied for convenience. For now, though, the count stays at 35 homes.
The timeline has already shifted once. In January 2024, the Conseil communal, Monaco’s municipal council, gave the project a unanimous favourable opinion. At that stage, the building carried an estimated cost of about €45 million, and the target for completion was 2027.
The Government now expects completion at the end of 2028. A geotechnical reassessment reclassified the building as a sensitive structure. As a result, the works carry additional technical requirements that could extend the schedule by about four months.
The apartments at Larvotto Supérieur will never reach the open market. The State allocates its domanial homes to Monegasque nationals. Together with the protected rental sector governed by Law 1.235, this stock is one of its main housing tools. IMSEE even leaves the domanial sector out of its real estate observatory.
Even so, the project tells private buyers something useful. Every public plot reserved for nationals is a plot that private developers cannot touch, and Monaco has very few left. In 2025, only 103 new private homes reached completion across the Principality, including the 56 apartments of Bay House. That scarcity sits at the heart of Monaco’s pricing outlook.
District data shows why the boundary between the Larvotto and La Rousse matters. According to the IMSEE Real Estate Observatory 2025, the Larvotto reached an estimated €71,167 per square metre, its first year above €70,000. La Rousse stood at €51,265, up 3.2% on the previous year.
For owners and buyers in the neighbouring buildings, the picture is mixed. Works will run until the end of 2028. Afterwards, the covered roadway, the planted ground floor and the new green space are designed to change the character of this stretch of the boulevard.
The site lies at 19 boulevard du Larvotto, in zone 1 (L’Annonciade) of the La Rousse ordered district. It sits uphill from the Larvotto seafront, in front of La Radieuse.
No. All 35 homes are domanial apartments that the State allocates to Monegasque nationals. Buyers drawn to the area can instead look at private residences for sale in Monaco, including addresses in La Rousse and the Larvotto.
The Government expects completion at the end of 2028. A geotechnical review added about four months to the works, pushing back the original 2027 target.
The bill presents the facility, about 1,318 square metres, as an option reserved for Monaco Telecom. The Government nevertheless states that it formed part of the specification from the start.
Baldo Realty Group follows every significant development in La Rousse and the Larvotto, including projects that will never come to market. To discuss private residences near boulevard du Larvotto, off-market opportunities included, speak with our team or browse our properties for sale in Monaco.
Sources