Belgian REIT Leaseinvest has acquired an iconic office building on the Tour & Taxis site in Brussels for €108 mln.
Belgian REIT Leaseinvest has acquired an iconic office building on the Tour & Taxis site in Brussels for €108 mln.
The investment volume for the Royal Deport property reflects an initial yield of 5.61%. Leaseinvest is funding the transaction from undrawn available credit lines. The vendor was Extensa Group.
The Royal Depot provides some 44,000 m2 of offices, commercial spaces and archives which generates €6.1 mln of annual rent from some 50 tenants.
The property was built between 1904 and 1906 based on a design of the architect Ernest Van Humbeek. It was inaugurated in 1910 by King Leopold II and was used for long-term storage of goods under government supervision.
The Royal Depot was entirely renovated in 2000 into a multifunctional and multi-tenant building on 4 floors and commercial activities and horeca on the ground floor. Since then the building has been fully occupied and the average rent per m2 has gradually increased over this period.
Leaseinvest described Royal Depot as a niche building and an 'experience hub' for the entire Tour & Taxis site. The central location and the combination of an historic building with facilities and the event-like character of the Tour & Taxis site make the Royal Depot a very sought after and unique investment object, according to Jean-Louis Appelmans, CEO of Leasinvest Real Estate:
Appelmans added that Royal Depot is the central pivot of the further development of Tour & Taxis, a former industrial site that operates as a mixed-use complex and events centre.