Fortis to lease 30,000 m[sup]2[/sup] in Brussels

Belgian financial services group Fortis has agreed to take almost 30,000 m² office space in the Manhattan Centre in Brussels. The deal is larger than any single office leasing deal achieved in the City of London in the last year, according to Gerald Keen of Catalyst Capital. JER Partners and Catalyst Capital jointly own the property.

Fortis has signed a nine-year lease with a fixed period of six years on more than half of the space. Fortis will have the benefit of some flexibility after three years with regard to the remaining rented areas. The Manhattan Centre complex, located in the northern district of the city, comprises 36,000 m² of office space within a total surface area of 55,000 m2, with six basement levels and 30 upper floors. The building also houses a shopping arcade on the ground floor.

Hellen Coppen of Fortis Real Estate said the move to the Manhattan Centre was due to lease contracts for a number of Fortis buildings in Brussels coming to an end this year and an increase in the number of work places. Although the owners and Fortis declined to comment on the financial details, it is believed that the rent is in the vicinity of EUR 160 per m² per year.

Catalyst Capital is a pan-European investment, asset management and development group, while JER Partners is a private equity real-estate investment management company. In a statement, the partners said the northern district of Brussels is 'fast evolving into one of the city's key business areas with large companies and more recently the European Community moving to the district'. The building has access to its own metro station. JER Partners and Catalyst Capital have agreed to carry out 'considerable' renovations worth some EUR 15 mln on the Manhattan Centre prior to Fortis taking up its lease at the end of the year.

In February, JER Partners and Catalyst Capital jointly acquired a property portfolio of Sweden's Kungsleden, consisting of eight buildings in Brussels with a total of 70,000 m². The principal asset of the EUR 90 mln deal was the Manhattan Centre.