Belgium to buy €1 billion worth of buildings from European Commission

The investment arm of Belgium’s federal government is interested in purchasing real estate in Brussels – specifically, 23 old buildings belonging mainly to the European Commission.

The European Commission wants to sell most of the buildings in its possession, except for the Berlaymont building, which houses its headquarters.

The federal government and the Commission have been in exclusive negotiations for several months over a property deal worth almost €1 billion, L'Echo and De Tijd report.

It includes a total of 350,000m² of office space in the EU district. The largest building in the portfolio is the gigantic office complex on Rue de la Loi 130.

Because it represents an agreement between a European institution and its host country, Belgium, the Commission is not required to organise a tender.

Nevertheless, the public will have a role to play when it comes to the buildings.

The plan is for the federal government to buy the Commission's buildings itself. After that, it plans to allocate the portfolio in tranches for renovation and redeployment in collaboration with property developers, allowing it to recoup part of the purchase price.