Portus Retail has acquired the "Docks Bruxsel" Shopping District from a Canadian investor. The Docks Bruxsel “Shopping District”, inaugurated in October 2016, covers 42,000 m² on two levels.
This "new generation" shopping centre, the first of its kind in Belgium, was developed by Equilis in cooperation with the Belgian architects firm Art & Build and the French design agency Saguez & Partners. A visionary project has been rewarded by ICSC Europe, receiving a Shopping Centre Award in the Large New Developments category.
Docks Bruxsel is home to 110 fashion, leisure, furniture, beauty and services brands and a Food District with some 15 restaurants. It is the first Shopping District in Belgium to offer its public a combination of premium products (Michael Kors, Superdry, LiuJo), family brands (Kiabi, H&M Home, Sergent Major, JBC), flagship stores such as the Samsung Experience store and exclusive leisure offers such as the country's first Koezio.
During its first year of existence, Docks Bruxsel attracted 5 million visitors, enabling it to position itself amongst the most visited malls in the country. Today, Docks Bruxsel is located in the middle of a catchment area with a constantly growing population of some 2.5 million consumers.
Jean-Philip Vroninks, CEO JLL Belgium and Luxembourg, said: "Docks Bruxsel is an exceptional Shopping District managed on a daily basis by our Property & Shopping Center Management team. We have been closely involved in its development, its commercialisation with our agency teams, its management and now the sale. A "360°" service. Since its opening, our teams have taken great pleasure in bringing Docks Bruxsel into the hearts of all residents of Brussels and beyond. This JLL quality work will soon be applied to 4 shopping centres in Belgium and Luxembourg. We are particularly pleased to have been able to lead this process from the search for a candidate to the closing of the transaction as Equilis' counsel. Both the seller and the buyer were able to surround themselves with professional and quality advisors in order to guarantee a sustained pace throughout the process. Given the size and complexity of the Shopping District, we are very proud of the result."
Adrian Glatt, Head of Capital Markets Belgium and Luxembourg, commented: "The sale of Docks Bruxsel is already the third shopping centre transaction in 2018. And JLL Capital Markets is proud to have completed two of these three transactions, both with foreign investors new to the Belgian market. This confirms more than ever the appetite of international investors for Brussels and the strength of JLL to direct these funds to our market."
