According to Maxime Xantippe, Managing Partner at CB Richard Ellis, the transaction perfectly suits the investors’ strategy in securing a large office portfolio of key buildings on prime locations in Brussels and its Periphery. In doing so, the new investor is prepared to handle the commercial risk in terms of
end-user occupation.

Airport Plaza is a business park that will comprise 7 state-of-the-art office buildings. The project will be constructed in 2 phases. The first phase will consist of 5 buildings, A/B/C/D/E, for a total of 35,667 m² and 721 parking places. The second phase comprises circa 20,170 m² of office space and 480
parking places. Building permits for phase 1 have been obtained and construction works will start at the end of 2008.

“In an investment market plagued by financial and economic constraints, this transaction proves the dynamic nature of some players. Controlling a project while it gains maturity in the next few years, should allow the investor to be ready when the market improves,” according to Maxime Xantippe.

The Airport Plaza enjoys exceptional visibility, as it is is located along the main access road towards the Brussels National Airport, where the Brussels ring road and the Autoroute Bruxelles-Zaventem intersect. The project offers a fantastic work environment with the presence of a service center on the site (restaurant, fitness, etc.) and a hotel and supermarket at walking distance.

The Airport micromarket has been one of the most successful business locations in Brussels since it was developed in the 90s. The micromarket, concentrated around the entrance of the National Airport, totals 345.000 m² of office stock consisting mainly of high-quality modern business parks. The Airport micromarket has proven to be highly successful in attracting large international corporates.

The main occupants are Microsoft, Aventis-Sanofi, Sony, SN Brussels Airlines, Deloitte & Touche, Toyota, 3M, DHL, Elia, Hewlett Packard and Honeywell.

The popularity of the Airport office cluster results from the access to the Brussels ring road, direct access to the National Airport and good accessibility by train. While the overall periphery suffers from a vacancy rate of 18.59%, the Airport micromarket vacancy rate is at only 8.27%. Business parks who offer
older office buildings or office buildings with less visibility typically suffer from higher availability.

Over the last few years, speculative development has been extremely low in the Periphery Area. Demand for office space was on the other hand well supported. Demand for grade A office space in particular was strong. As a result, the amount of readily available good-quality office space has been gradually declining. Due to the lack of available grade A office buildings in the Airport micromarket, rents have been well supported with the highest rents recorded at 165 euro/m².

Strategic Partners Europe Fund is a fund created by CB Richard Ellis Investors and subscribed by American pension funds with a view to invest in real estate assets in continental Europe. The fund has already invested €750 million in real estate assets in France, Italy and Germany.

Source: CB Richard Ellis