Brussels-City and Region agree on €335 million for Neo complex

The municipality of Brussels-City and the Brussels-Capital Region have agreed to invest €167.5 each in the Neo project – a massive conference, entertainment and office complex on the Heysel plateau in the north of Brussels.

Heysel, where the Atomium and Bruparck are located, belongs to Brussels City, and its former mayor, Freddie Thielemans, chairs the body that administers the entire park. Because of its importance for the region as a whole, the regional government became involved in the project, and a co-operation agreement was signed last spring, followed by a concrete financial commitment this week.

The resulting legal partnership, called Neo, is due to be approved by the Brussels Parliament today. Each of the two partners owns 50%. Brussels City provides the land, and the Region pays €8.37 million over the next 20 years, bringing the total investment by both parties to €335 million.  

The construction of the first phase of Neo – the shopping centre and residential part of the project – will be carried out by a private contractor that is expected to be named next month. The second phase involving the congress centre and hotel will be contracted out later.

Neo is one of three major shopping and leisure complexes planned for the Brussels area. The others are Uplace in Machelen,  near the Vilvoorde viaduct, and Docks Bruxsel (formerly known as Just Under the Sky), near the Van Praet bridge over the canal.

photo courtesy KCAP