A Method Now Coming to the United States
When Jordan Jonathan Renner talks about an industrial brownfield, he never begins with the pollution. He talks about the future. Where many see an abandoned lot, a cleanup cost, or a legal liability, the founder of CAPFIMO CONSTRUCTION sees a piece of land waiting to reclaim its economic life. A method now coming to the United States.
Interview conducted by Romain Angeletti – Editor-in-Chief of French District.
For several years now, this French entrepreneur has specialized in a field most developers prefer to avoid: the redevelopment of neglected industrial sites. It’s an approach that blends engineering, urban planning, sustainability, and economic vision.
His most emblematic project, Air Portes, in Janneyrias, perfectly illustrates this philosophy.
On a former 23,000 m² industrial brownfield left abandoned for more than twenty years, CAPFIMO carried out remediation to a depth of seven meters before developing an industrial park of more than 10,000 m², certified BREEAM International – one of the most demanding environmental standards in the world.
The development was later acquired for more than 17 million euros by Edmond de Rothschild Real Estate Investment Management, one of the most internationally recognized institutional investors in the European real estate sector.
For Jordan Renner, this acquisition represents far more than a commercial success.
“When an institutional investor like Rothschild decides to acquire an asset, they aren’t interested in the pitch. They look at the quality of the construction, the soundness of the project, its environmental performance, and its ability to create value over the long term. Their confidence was an extremely important validation of our method.”
Building where others give up
What is striking about Jordan Renner is that he almost never talks about buildings.
He talks about places.
For him, a real estate project is never an end in itself. It only makes sense if it helps rebuild lasting economic activity.
“I don’t see myself simply as a builder. Our work is about transforming places. We identify abandoned industrial sites, we clean them up, we rebuild them, and then we create the conditions for companies to grow there. What interests me isn’t just the building. It’s what will happen there over the next thirty or forty years.”
“An industrial brownfield is often seen as a problem. I see it as a promise. Of course, you have to accept the technical, environmental, and financial complexity. But when the project comes together, you haven’t just put up a building. You’ve given a place back its economy.”
Recognition that goes beyond real estate
CAPFIMO’s approach hasn’t only caught the attention of investors.
It has also drawn interest from numerous business media outlets – including BFM Business, Bref Éco, and Lyon Décideurs – which have devoted several reports and analyses to the initiative.
At the inauguration of Air Portes, local elected officials likewise emphasized the project’s impact on the region.
The mayor of Janneyrias, Jean-Louis Turmaud, and Member of Parliament Alexis Joly praised a project that allows the town to make up several decades of lost ground in its economic development.
“Of course, it feels good. But what matters most is seeing companies move in and create jobs. Today, more than a hundred people work on this site. To me, that’s the real success.”
Sustainability as a method
“Build with purpose, build to last” – the guiding principle of Jordan Jonathan Renner.
Unlike many players in the sector, Jordan Renner refuses to treat sustainability as a marketing argument.
At CAPFIMO, it is the starting point of every project.
It was in this spirit that the company voluntarily pursued BREEAM certification for the Air Portes project, even though no regulation required it.
“I wanted our work to be evaluated by an independent body against the most demanding international standards. The certification wasn’t a PR exercise. It was a way to confirm that our convictions rested on measurable results.”
“Sustainability isn’t a layer you add at the end of a project. It’s a way of thinking about the project from the very first sketch.”
A method set to travel to the United States
Having proven the feasibility of this approach in France, CAPFIMO is now preparing to expand into the U.S. market.
The United States has several hundred thousand industrial brownfields, while the environmental requirements of institutional investors keep rising.
“We don’t claim to offer ready-made solutions. What we do have is a method that has been proven in the field. If this experience can help accelerate the transformation of certain American communities, then we will have reached our goal.”
Leaving behind a method rather than a fortune
As our conversation drew to a close, one final question was unavoidable.
What does Jordan Renner hope to leave behind?
“I’m not trying to become the biggest real estate developer. What interests me is showing that another way of developing industrial real estate is possible. If, a few years from now, more local governments choose to redevelop a brownfield rather than build on untouched land, then I’ll feel I’ve contributed something useful.”
