Sale of Brussels Audi site begins

The sale process has begun for the former Audi site in Brussels, with interested companies able to submit bids as of this week.

Audi hired real estate agent JLL to oversee the sale of the site in Forest, Bruzz reports.

The factory closed its doors at the end of February, after which several interested buyers visited the location.

No deal has been reached yet, but Audi will organise further visits to the 54-hectare site and a number of bids are expected.

“Real estate agent JLL will send a brochure with brief information about the Audi site and a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to potentially interested buyers,” Audi Brussels spokesperson Peter D’hoore said.

“[Bids] will be analysed and compared with each other. Based on this, a shortlist of potentially interested parties will be drawn up for the further course of the process.”

D’hoore said there was considerable interest from both Belgian and foreign investors, including arms manufacturers and companies in the defence sector.

Belgian defence minister Theo Francken (N-VA) has talked about finding a site for the construction of military equipment on Belgian soil and is specifically considering the Audi site.

The political actors involved in the sale will also have their say as soon as the offers start coming in.

These include representatives from the cabinets of prime minister Bart De Wever (N-VA), federal minister of employment David Clarinval (MR), Brussels minister-president Rudi Vervoort (PS) and mayor of Forest Charles Spapens (PS).

“This working group also includes representatives from Audi and it meets regularly to discuss the future of the site,” said D’hoore, adding that the procedure was going “very well.”

It is expected that the future use of the site will be announced in the autumn or spring of 2026.

“Approaching interested parties for the signing will take several months and depends in part on the level of interest in the market,” D’hoore added.