Cushman & Wakefield advised AXA Real Estate in the sale of Vander Elst office building in Leuven (BE)

Vander Elst is a landmark office building located Colonel Begautlaan, 1 in Leuven and developed by Ghelamco in 2013. The building is part of a greater project called Vaartkom comprising, in addition to the office building Vander Elst, 113 residential apartments (Waterside), 500 student housing units (Waterview), retail space and a parking for more than a thousand cars.
The building is leased partly to the Colruyt Group (Dreamland store) and partly to office tenants such as Rijksdienst voor Arbeidsvoorzeining, AG Insurance and Prevent. The building comprises a total area of +/- 17.000 and represents an investment volume around €40 million. Vander Elst is the first BREEAM Very Good certified building in Leuven.
Cushman & Wakefield acted as advisor to AXA Real Estate, the leading real estate portfolio and asset manager in Europe, acting on behalf of AXA Belgium, major player on the Belgian real estate market and active in Belgium with a portfolio above €3 billion.
According to Maxime Xantippe, Head of Capital Markets (Cushman & Wakefield): “Investment opportunities located in secondary cities and which respond to all expectations of institutional investors become increasingly attractive. Vander Elst is a good example of this and offers long term cash flow security on a Bream certified and newly built property.”
Besides, the office market in Leuven is considered as extremely healthy, even though it presents a limited offer but in line with a reasonable vacancy.
This investment offers the possibility to AXA Belgium to further diversity its real estate portfolio by acquiring this mixed-use building in a fast-growing city comprising as well the HQ of the brewer AB InBev as a university welcoming 35,000 students every year.
Source: Cushman & Wakefield