Irish Life acquires Brussels property from Herpain-Urbis

Herpain Urbis acquired the Geneve 4 office scheme in Brussels from social services firm Securex before selling it to Irish Life Assurance a short time later for an undisclosed sum. CBRE advised Irish Life on this transaction. Herpain Urbis is the property development firm formed from the merger of Herpain Investissement and Urbis Development.

Maxime Xantippe, managing partner at CB Richard Ellis, said: 'Both developer and end-investor agreed terms on the sale in the months proceeding the transaction before either party actually owned the building. The Geneve 4 transaction is therefore the first investment deal where the building is acquired at such an early stage of the development.'

The property provides 19,075 m² of offices, 2,176 m² of archive space and 241 m² of interior parking units. Located in the North-East of Brussels, the property will be completely refurbished, with energy efficiency as one of the top priorities. The start of the actual redevelopment works will depend on the current occupants, who have asked to remain in the building for a non-disclosed period of time.

The current structure allows the developers to cover part of the development and commercial risk, while the end investor is able to buy the product at reasonable conditions, according to CB Richard Ellis. 'This is not a simple forward commitment. CBRE has put in place an innovative structure in which the end investors is front in line since the start but without any of the development risk,' Xantippe said.