Oudsbergen, Belgium: Gijbels Group, the Limburg-based group of companies with almost 60 years of entrepreneurial history, has launched PYLAR as the new commercial brand for its real estate development activities, and has simultaneously announced the acquisition of the 73,000m² former Veldeman Bedding site on Industrieweg-Noord in Oudsbergen. The 7.3-hectare brownfield plot, located directly adjacent to Gijbels Group's own headquarters, includes 27,500m² of existing commercial buildings and will be transformed in phases into a future-oriented business park tailored to the needs of incoming occupiers. The launch marks a deliberate strategic sharpening for the group, which is gradually phasing out its Dutch residential participations, including its longstanding co-development relationship with FUTURN, to concentrate capital and expertise more firmly on commercial real estate in Belgium and, in time, southern Netherlands and West Germany.
PYLAR will focus on corporate, commercial and industrial real estate, business campuses and the redevelopment of existing sites, with an ambition to bring approximately 30,000m² of new business space to market annually within three to five years. The platform is designed to go beyond conventional project development: it will support entrepreneurs, landowners and investors across the full real estate lifecycle, from location selection, development and financing through to construction, energy, maintenance and management. The development concept for the Oudsbergen site has been deliberately left open-ended, with the needs of future users set to shape the final programme. Renovation and reuse of existing buildings are being explored alongside new construction, with sustainability integrated from the first design phase, including energy supply, water management, landscaping, smart building controls and potential shared facilities between occupier companies.
"With PYLAR, we are not starting from scratch. We are building on almost 60 years of entrepreneurship of GIJBELS GROUP, of which the past fifteen years also in real estate development. During that period, we have built up strong partnerships and an extensive network. We have learned a lot about developing, investing, working together and managing risks. We now want to use that experience in an even more targeted way. In a market in which financing, risk and complexity are becoming increasingly decisive, GIJBELS GROUP offers a distinctive combination of capital, integrated expertise and entrepreneurial space. This gives us the strength to seize opportunities, invest ourselves and realise ambitious projects together with partners," said Hendrik Swennen, CEO of Gijbels Group.
"The fact that we can acquire a former industrial site of this size just next to our own headquarters makes this project extra special. We know the area, understand the needs of companies and see a wonderful opportunity here to breathe new life into existing industrial land. We don't want to just build buildings here. We want to create a strong, sustainable business environment together with future users, where companies can grow in the coming decades," added Hendrik Swennen.
For investors and developers tracking the Belgian commercial real estate market, the strategic logic behind PYLAR's launch is well-timed. The Belgian logistics and light industrial market has continued to see vacancy compress in established Flemish corridors, while the supply of well-located, serviced brownfield sites suitable for business park development remains structurally limited. Limburg, positioned between the port of Antwerp, the Hasselt-Genk economic axis and the Dutch border, is increasingly attractive to occupiers seeking alternatives to the saturated Brussels and Antwerp periphery markets. Gijbels Group's integrated model, combining PYLAR's development capability with construction company Mathieu Gijbels and sustainability hub Gentoo, gives it a cost and coordination advantage over pure-play developers that must assemble those capabilities from third parties, and represents the kind of vertically integrated platform that institutional co-investment partners are actively seeking in mid-market European markets.
PYLAR's current portfolio already includes a dozen active projects: De Stokerij in Halle, Awans Business Park in Liege, Cesar Business Park in Bornem and RE|CORE in Hasselt, among others. Hendrik Swennen concluded: "We have the foundation, the capital, the experience and the network. With PYLAR, we bring these forces together in a company that wants to grow by working together. Not bigger for the sake of getting bigger, but stronger through focus, entrepreneurship and sustainable value creation."
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People
- Hendrik Swennen, Chief Executive Officer, Gijbels Group and PYLAR
Companies
- Gijbels Group, Limburg-based integrated group of companies; active in construction, project development and building performance; almost 60 years of history; more than 400 employees; parent company of PYLAR, Mathieu Gijbels and Gentoo
- PYLAR, newly launched commercial real estate development brand within Gijbels Group; focuses on corporate, commercial and industrial real estate, business campuses and brownfield redevelopment in Belgium, southern Netherlands and West Germany; target of 30,000m² of new business space annually within three to five years
- Mathieu Gijbels, construction company; well-known operating subsidiary of Gijbels Group
- Gentoo, sustainability hub; operating subsidiary of Gijbels Group focused on energy and sustainability
- FUTURN, Dutch real estate developer; longstanding co-development partner of Gijbels Group in large-scale Dutch area developments; participation being gradually phased out
- Veldeman Bedding, former operator of the Oudsbergen production site acquired by PYLAR; 73,000m² land plot and 27,500m² of existing commercial buildings
Image: Hendrik Swennen, CEO GIJBELS GROUP
