La Française Real Estate Managers (REM), acting on behalf of a collective real estate investment vehicle, has acquired from CORES Development 100% of the shares of Rocaille NV, a company owning two adjacent office buildings, C-Hive and Archimedes, in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium’s second largest city.
The office buildings are ideally located at 176/180 Mechelsesteenweg, a tree-lined boulevard in the Harmonie district, a vibrant neighbourhood offering an abundance of shops, supermarkets, trendy cafés, restaurants and green spaces). Antwerp Central and Antwerp-Berchem railway stations, two of Belgium’s largest railway hubs, are just minutes away by tram or bicycle.
The investment comprises two contrasting and complementary office properties, C-Hive & Archimedes, located directly adjacent to one another:
- C-Hive is a modern, fully renovated (2019), long-term let, multi-tenant office building with a total surface of 4,820 m² spanning 10 floors (GF + 9). The ground floor consists of a high-end lobby and meeting and seminar rooms. The ninth floor of the building has a surface of 154 m² and has a terrace on three sides of the property offering impressive views of the city.
C-Hive offers regular, subdivisible floor plates of ca. 555 m² around a central core with good levels of natural light.
In the underground of C-Hive, the building provides a fitness room, shower facilities and archive space. Additionally, there are bicycle parking spaces and 13 charging points for electric vehicles. At the entrance of the building, there is a Velo docking station (Antwerp bicycle hiring scheme).
- Archimedes is a single tenant office building renovated in 2016 and 2020. The property has a total surface of 1,882 m² spanning 3 floors (GF + 2). Underground, the building provides 486 m² of mixed area including a fitness area, changing rooms, etc.
Archimedes offers floor plates ranging between 560 m² and 690 m² and is the HQ building of CORES Development.
The building was fully redecorated by interior designer Living Projects. Every room has its own creative yet functional character. The facade of Archimedes was built in neo-rococo style and dates back to 1929.
Peter Balfour, Head of Real Estate UK for La Française Real Estate Managers said, “Both properties, given their exceptional location, the quality of the renovations and the diversity of the tenant mix, are exceptional additions to our real estate portfolio and offer long-term income generation potential.”
Alexander Vanheukelen, Business Developer for CORES Development, concluded, “We are very pleased with this transaction and look forward to our continued relationship with La Française as a tenant in one of Antwerp’s most beautiful office buildings.”
La Française Real Estate Managers was advised by Linklaters on legal, Arcadis on technical and environmental due diligence and PwC on tax and financial issues. JLL advised La Française REM on the acquisition. The vendor was advised by CBRE and KPMG Law.
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