AEW has acquired the shares in Trône Holding, a Belgian company holding ownership rights over Trône Square, an office building in the CBD of Brussels, Belgium from GLL Real Estate Partners. The purchase is made on behalf of AEW Europe Value Investors II and represents the fourth investment for the Fund.
Trône Square comprises c. 7,000m² of high-quality office space over eight floors and is 53% let to two tenants with a WALT of 6.6 years. The asset presents a number of asset management opportunities including leasing vacant space and the refurbishment of the building. Starting with the ground floor space, the refurbishment will create a modern reception area and retail units before progressing to the rest of the building and outdoor space.
Situated in the Leopold district of Brussels, the area is home to the European Commission and European Parliament making it one of the most sought-after office locations in the capital. Positioned on the intersection between Rue du Trône and Chaussée de Wavre, one of the main connecting roads between the city centre and the university cluster in the south-east, the asset also has excellent local and international transport links.
Carsten Czarnetzki, Fund Manager of EVI II at AEW, commented: “This acquisition, our first for the Fund in Belgium, is perfectly aligned with the Fund’s strategy of targeting opportunities in the most liquid European markets which offer the potential for value creation through active asset management. There is high demand for office space in this area of Brussels, which combined with low vacancy is driving rental growth. With this transaction, we have invested over €200m and are on track with our capital deployment programme.”
