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The media attention brought to the custody of Hervé Legros and his companion at the start of the week says something about the fascination that the promoter exerts on his hometown of Lyon.
Today targeted by a judicial investigation for "moral harassment" and "abuse of social property", the one who founded his first company at the age of 20, with his only plumbing CAP in his pocket, pranced at more than 730 million euros in turnover in 2021 at the head of Alila, his company founded in 2007 and specializing in HLM construction.
To speak of Hervé Legros is to evoke the trajectory of a comet, magnetized by light.
“Singular”
,
“exuberant”
,
“talented”
,
“undrinkable”
… The promoter does not leave those who have crossed his path indifferent.
Everyone agrees on the other hand on the
"thirst to succeed"
of the Lyonnais, who will celebrate his 40th birthday this year.
The
success story
entrepreneurship therefore began in 2003. After opening two real estate agencies in a few months, the young Hervé Legros started out in real estate development in the individual house segment, and launched his company HPL.
An activity that led him to discover in the mid-2000s, the Vefa system, for sale in the future state of completion.
An arrangement that allows the lessor to acquire a set of housing units to be built and therefore reduces risk-taking for the developer.
HLMs built by the private sector
“This allowed him to solve the difficulty of early financing
, explains a former collaborator.
The Vefa makes it possible to sign en bloc and begin to mobilize funds for work on the basis of financing which arrives in installments
.
Lyon is also a forerunner in this area.
The first Vefa there dates back to the year 2000 in the Tête d'Or sector.
Social landlords make particular use of it.
“They no longer have enough equity to pay the cost price and buy the land
, observes a heavyweight in the middle.
In Greater Lyon, 75% of social housing production is provided by developers”.
Promoters much less corseted by the heaviness of the public procurement code.
At the same time, the appearance of the SRU law, which forced municipalities to increase their stock of social housing, was to constitute the second blade of the windfall sniffed out by the young promoter.
“The donors could not achieve their production objectives on their own
,” agrees a metropolitan adviser.
Hervé Legros rushes to the opportunity.
"He was the first to feel this niche, to rush into it to work en bloc on 100% social housing
," says a former employee of Alila.
In 2012,
“he organized a fundraiser of 5 million euros, and invited several leading entrepreneurs to join him in his adventure”
, retraces the company's website.
Hervé Legros is not 30 years old.
HPL Promotions becomes Alila.
And at the dawn of its tenth year of exercise, the young wolf already weighs nearly 75 million euros.
"Comparative advantage"
“He was able to clear the sector very quickly,
abounds an elected official from Grand Lyon.
He did not focus on his region of origin, but on all of France.
“With the talent to organize its business operation because it is very complicated to set up these projects,
specifies this former collaborator.
There are many service providers that must be mobilized and the schedule must be respected in order to deliver on time”
.
The mayors ask for more.
“He had a rather interesting approach to the housing offer, with this Vefa system which made it possible to go faster to achieve certain objectives
, recalls Yves Blein, mayor of Feyzin and former deputy.
He had carried out two programs in the municipality and this had been done within the correct timeframes compared to a donor”
.
All with a personal touch: the importance given to finishing details.
“What is characteristic of Alila is the desire to have the best possible quality on delivery with care for the immediate environment such as the plantations
,” boasts another employee who has now left the company.
This is where its comparative advantage lies in this quality of delivery and particular attention to the finishing of the work.”
Tighten prices
The other asset of Alila, Hervé Legros flushes it out at Nexity, in the person of Géraldine Mazier.
"It's really two talents
," reads this former Alila who praises the
"exceptional flair"
of the promoter's companion to flush out free and inexpensive land.
“Alila's trick is to look for land on the outskirts of metropolitan areas to take advantage of lower prices by optimizing production costs,
observes this expert in the sector
.
They have very rational buildings and very competitive work costs thanks to an inexpensive purchasing function (the supply of raw materials).
With this model, he managed to develop an incredible volume in a short time.
A volume handled with only 130 employees, points out a player in the sector for several decades, pointing
to “the rhythms and the workload”
of the company as well as a
“significant staff turnover”
.
His lawyer, Me Alain Jakubowicz, also evokes
"settlement of accounts by former employees who came to balance things"
at the origin of the searches of his home in Écully and the headquarters of Alila in the international city.
The good and the noise
Cantor of the social, Hervé Legros, who displays positions in favor of equal opportunities in particular, does not roll less in Ferrari.
Far from the Lyon adage that
"noise does no good and good does not make noise"
, smiles an elected Lyonnais.
Enough to attract a few sideways glances in a sector that lives mainly on public money.
"It's a big part of its funding
," confirms this metropolitan adviser.
And to add understatement:
“Sometimes it is true that the display of his lifestyle could create a distortion with the supposed reserve that one could expect from him with regard to his activity.
»
The one who has the reputation of enjoying the round trips to Paris by jet
"leaves an incredible ticket to OL,
Asvel
and Racing club de France, of which he is the sponsor"
, attacks a known promoter on the square lyonnaise.
“He is playing with fire”
.
The 30-year-old, on the other hand, does not have his card at the Federation of Real Estate Developers (FPI) where his
“unique monobloc model”
may have displeased.
“He does not do free housing.
For me he is not a promoter in the noble sense.
There is no risk taking.
When he builds, he already has the customer
,” says a member.
“He is an extraordinary character who has too conspicuous a success”
, launches for his part Me Jakubowicz, assuring the absence of charge at this stage against his client after two hours of police custody.
And to conclude:
“In Lyon, we don't like heads sticking out”
.
However, the guy is not the type to hide his meter ninety-four.
