Hannover Leasing snaps up Brussels trophy asset

German investment manager Hannover Leasing has acquired a landmark office property in Brussels.

Although the purchase price was not disclosed, French newspaper Le Soir put the figure at over €300 mln.

The Belair building 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.

Hannover Leasing acquired the asset through a joint venture with an unnamed Asian institutional investor. The two companies hold equal stakes and the investment was financed through a mixture of equity and debt capital.

The vendor was RAC1, a joint venture company set up for the first phase of the redevelopment by Belgian companies Breevast and Compagnie Immobiliere de Belgique (Immobel). Breevast holds a 60% share in the joint venture, with Immobel taking the remaining 40%.

RAC1 has worked on the redevelopment of the complex since 2003 and around €180 mln is set to be invested in the project. A second development phase will extend the complex with 70,000 m2 of mixed-use facilities and is scheduled for completion in 2016.

Hannover Leasing and its Asian partner were advised on the deal by Jones Lang LaSalle and Dutch law firm Loyens & Loeff.

Breevast and Immobel were advised by CBRE and Clifford Chance.