Trotabas residence for 76 studios opened in Nice
On 1 September 2026 a Crous Trotabas student residence was ceremonially opened in Nice on Robert Schuman Street. It is designed for 76 studios, but the shortage of student housing in the Alpes-Maritimes department is still estimated at 1,500 places.
New residence at the Faculty of Law
A six-storey Crous residence has been built on the site of a former tennis court, next to the Faculty of Law. Construction took just one year, and the total cost of the project was around €8 million. Architects Vincent Goffart and Christelle Billy designed the L-shaped building, which houses 76 studios ranging from 18 square metres. The first students moved in on 29 August.
Smart cooling without air conditioning
The project is distinguished by an eco-friendly approach: the architects integrated climatic data, paying attention to solar shading, thermal inertia and external insulation. Thanks to an open gallery and a through-plan layout, the rooms are naturally ventilated. Large ceiling fans reduce the perceived temperature by up to three degrees. The studios include a kitchenette, a desk, a bathroom and a mattress protected against bed bugs. Some rooms overlook the Bay of Angels.
Shortage in numbers
Around 70,000 students are enrolled in the Académie of Nice, while Crous has only 5,260 places. The director general of Crous Nice-Toulon, Mireille Barral, estimates the housing shortfall in the Alpes-Maritimes at 1,500 places, of which more than a thousand are in Nice. This limits the attractiveness of the University of the Côte d’Azur, which is included in the Shanghai rankings.
The mayor of Nice, Éric Ciotti, emphasises that housing is the foundation for the university’s development. According to him, rent consumes more than half of a student’s monthly budget, and Crous studios cost around €400 per month, which after deducting APL leaves less than €300 net.
Plan until 2028
The state and local authorities have developed an expansion plan: by the end of 2027 it is planned to bring 446 Crous places into service, including the Trotabas residence, and in September 2028 a further 334 places in the Saint-Jean-Angély residence. The Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur will include student housing in the new local urban development plan (PLUm) by the end of 2028.
“The Metropolis will make student housing a priority of the new plan,” the mayor said. “We have also introduced a mechanism allowing owners to rent apartments to tourists in the summer, and to students from September to June. About 300 flats are already being used.” The national platform “My student housing” is intended to centralise data on available places, but not all landlords are actively providing information yet.
The president of the national Crous, Bénédict Duran, reminds us: “It is precisely the social index that determines priority for allocation. Today 85% of applications from higher-category scholarship recipients are satisfied — this is our main task. We are also considering non-standard solutions, for example placing students in care homes for the elderly or developing intergenerational programmes.”
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