CBREGI looking to sell Brussels tower

PropertyEU takes a look at the major real estate assets up for sale in Brussels following a recent rise in the number of transactions in the market.

The largest of the recent deals saw German investor Hannover Leasing acquire the Belair office development scheme for €300 mln in a joint venture transaction during June. Hannover Leasing's partner was Gingko Tree Investments, part of the Chinese sovereign wealth fund SAFE.

Belair is an 11-storey office complex in the downtown district of the city with a lettable area of 80,000 m2. The first phase of a large-scale redevelopment of the complex will be concluded by the end of the year. The building will be let to the Belgian Federal Police on a fixed-term lease of 18 years.

PropertyEU has established the largest asset being currently on offer in the market is the 90-metre Bastion Tower in Brussels. Originally built in 1965 and modernised in 1995-6, the multi-let property is located in the Port de Namur region of the city and comprises 32,000 m2 of office space over 25 upper floors.

While it was not formally on the market yet Cushman & Wakefield and Jones Lang LaSalle are said to be sending information to prospective buyers on behalf of owner CBREGI. The asking price is in the region of €130 mln.

The second-largest asset seeking a new owner is Carlyle’s property at Rue de la Loi 15 in Brussels. Savills is believed to be acting for the vendor.

The building comprises almost 17,000 m2 of office space and a further 1,100 m2 of archive space let on a 15-year lease to the European Union until 2028.

Rue de la Loi 15 is expected to trade at about €70 mln, or a yield of about 5%, to one of the local pension funds.

The July-August edition of PropertyEU features a report from the investment briefing on the Belgian market held in May 2013 as part of a focus on the Benelux. This is complimented by an analysis of the biggest transactions in the first half the year. See the Benelux dossier for the complete roundup.