An affiliate of Lone Star Value-Add Fund II has inked a deal with the Bervoets family to buy the company Hotel Métropole, whose main asset is the Métropole Hotel in Brussels.
Financial details were not disclosed.
Lone Star said it would partner with Centaurus Hospitality Management to launch a major renovation of the historic 250-room hotel, with a view to reopen it in the fourth quarter of 2025.
'The acquisition of the Métropole, the capital’s historic hotel, by Lone Star and Centaurus is very good news for Brussels. This renovation will mark a new stage in the revitalization of the city center of Brussels. This illustrious building will regain its historic cachet and create hundreds of jobs,' said Philippe Close, mayor of the City of Brussels.
The property opened in 1895 with architecture emblematic of the Belle Époque style. Located on Place de Brouckère, in the heart of the Belgian capital, the real estate complex occupies a vast block stretching from Place de Brouckère to Rue Neuve, one of the main shopping high streets of the city and soon to be one of the largest pedestrian areas in Europe.
The real estate complex includes the Métropole Hotel and its 250 rooms, the Brasserie Métropole, as well as nine commercial units, mainly located on Rue Neuve and leased to fashion and cosmetics brands.
Built in 1874 to welcome the Caisse Générale d'Epargne et de Retraite, the hotel then converted into a five-star hotel in 1895 by the Wielemans-Ceuppens family, which had opened the adjacent Brasserie Métropole in 1890.
The Métropole has welcomed many heads of state, Nobel Prize winners, and artists of the 20th century, such as former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, former French President Charles de Gaulle; scientists Albert Einstein, Max Planck, and Pierre & Marie Curie; and singer Jacques Brel, as well as serving as the setting for many films.
The nine commercial units have a total leasable area of around 8,300 m2 and host leading tenants on Rue Neuve and Place de Brouckère. The real estate complex owns three commercial units on Rue Neuve – one of the main pedestrian and shopping streets of Brussels with a 250,000 footfall per week – including one large prime unit leased to Zara since 1994 for one of its two flagships in Brussels.
The new hotel will comprise 250 keys, a restaurant, a bar, a fitness room, a wellness area, and reception rooms. The works will modernise the hotel, improve its environmental performance, and bring new services while preserving its historic character and typical neo-Renaissance architecture.
Lone Star and Centaurus Hospitality Management were advised by Loyens & Loeff, PwC, Theop, Universoil, JLL and Savills. The Bervoets family was advised by Linklaters. The transaction was brokered by CBRE.
