BoI buys landmark Brussels property for private clients

Bank of Ireland Private Banking has acquired a landmark property in central Brussels, the IT Tower, for approximately €70m on behalf of a number of clients.

The IT Tower is located on the prestigious Avenue Louise, a major thoroughfare in Brussels. The property was originally constructed in the 1970s and has recently been refurbished by the vendor, International Real Estate. The tower comprises 22,927 m2 over 23 floors and is multi-let to 22 tenants, including McKinsey & Co, Volkswagen, Banca di Roma and Banque de Rothschild.

Commenting on the acquisition, Peter Collins, Director of Bank of Ireland Private Banking said: “We believe that the Brussels office market represents an excellent opportunity for Irish investors to diversify their property portfolio in a Euro-dominated market.

"The office market in Brussels is underpinned by the presence of public sector occupiers such as the EU, NATO and the Belgian government and this is reflected in the fact that there has been good rental growth in Brussels in recent years in contrast to most major European cities. This rental growth is expected to continue as the general occupier market recovers and the EU expands its office requirements”.

“While a lot of attention is being paid to property opportunities in Central Europe, we believe that established markets like Brussels which are very transparent, have competitive rental levels and high degrees of liquidity, represent better opportunities for investors looking for good returns in a relatively low-risk environment. This is our third European transaction over the last two years and we expect to see the trend towards European property by Irish investors continue”.

Brussels saw more than €1.6bn invested in commercial property in 2003. German open-ended funds and Belgian Sicafi’s (Real Estate Investment Trusts) continue to dominate over 60% of the market.

However, the increase in investment levels from private investors has been exceptional. Irish and Middle Eastern private investors have been the main contributors. In contrast in 2003, the overall commercial property investment turnover for the whole of Ireland was marginally in excess of €650m.