Brussels (Brussels Morning) – Belgium’s SFPIM buys 23 buildings from the European Commission for €900 million, aiming to transform Brussels’ European quarter into a modern, sustainable hub with mixed-use spaces and reduced carbon footprint.
The European Commission and the Government of Belgium have finalised an arrangement whereby the Federal Holding and Investment Company (SFPIM), the ‘Belgian Sovereign Wealth Fund’, purchases 23 buildings from the Commission for a payment of €900 million. This operation will permit a transformation of the European quarter into a modern, attractive and greener place where office buildings co-exist harmoniously with homes, retail and leisure.
What role does the European Commission play in reducing its office space?
According to the Commission, this sale will play a significant part in the Commission’s actions to reduce its office surface by 25% by 2030, thereby updating and greening its real estate, and reducing its carbon footprint. This would also build economies of scale by regrouping staff in fewer, larger and more energy-efficient structures. Moreover, replacing older buildings with trendy and flexible offices also increases the beauty of the Commission as an employer and aligns its office needs with the new hybrid way of working.
Similarly, the SFPIM and the Brussels Capital Region are in the procedure of revalorising the main assets of the European quarter and presenting a wider variety of uses, with more housing and community-based services.
What Drives Belgium’s Purchase of European Commission Buildings in Brussels?
The acquisition of 23 buildings allows Belgium and Brussels to take an essential step forward in the redevelopment of the site and the implementation of the shared imagination of a European neighbourhood that besides offices and housing also supports relaxing public spaces with more greenery and more space for active mobility. It will make the district more visual in the cultural, institutional and residential landscape of the Capital.
How will SFPIM refurbish the acquired buildings for sustainability?
SFPIM will incorporate into its portfolio these buildings. They will be refurbished to become more sustainable and will be carried back to the market for hybrid allocation (businesses, housing, services). Finally, this sale satisfies the ambition of the Federal government to persist in hosting the European Institutions, to anchor them in Brussels and to push Brussels into the even more international, modern and green capital of Belgium. Following the decision of the Commission to market 23 of its buildings from 2023 onwards, a call for tenders was established in 2023 and took place in two stages in compliance with the Financial Regulation. SFPIM is a successful tenderer.
How does the sale of buildings support the Commission’s goals for a modern workplace?
In its buildings policy, the Commission strives to use each square metre more intelligently (to reduce the number of square metres and buildings needed) and push each square metre greener, via the following main actions: strategically choosing energy-efficient facilities whenever available, giving up old energy-intensive buildings; gradually renovating the current building stock to the most delinquent standards, where appropriate; continuing to decrease electricity, gas and water consumption via systematic technical improvements, including renovation, and behavioural modifications such as reducing or stopping heating at certain times; ensuring that better sustainable energy sources and technologies to supervise offices are used wherever possible.
