TWEED, one of the most successful office developments in the Brussels Capital Region, was born when Rachid Chami, CEO of Queens' Lane, acquired the project from Kairos in 2012. Thanks to a close collaboration between MACAN Development, AG Real Estate and Cushman & Wakefield, the office space was delivered in 2020, sold to BNP Paribas REIM in the last quarter of 2021 and is fully leased since the end of 2022.

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01 THE OPPORTUNITY

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In the 1960s, the building located in Rue aux Laines 70, next to the Court of Justice, was the headquarters of VIVAQUA. When VIVAQUA decided to move its offices near the central station, the old building was acquired by the Belgian developer Kairos at a public auction.

In 2012, Kairos decided to sell the building to Rachid Chami, co-founder of MACAN Development Group, who intended to demolish the building and transform it into high-end residential units. This is the beginning of a long history and close relationship between Cushman & Wakefield and the various stakeholders of the TWEED building.

MACAN Development submitted a building permit application for demolition / reconstruction to develop a new 16,500 sqm office building meeting the highest environmental standards in 2016. The building permit was issued in 2017.

Construction began in 2018 and the brand new office building was delivered in 2021 with high environmental standards (BREEAM Excellent certification and passive building status).

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02 THE SOLUTIONS

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Through close collaboration with the developers, unparalleled market knowledge and original proposals, innovative solutions were implemented at every stage of the process to make this project a success.

The story began in 2013 when our Office Leasing team met with developer MACAN Development, who had originally purchased the building with the idea of converting it into high-end residential units. Our experts, with their knowledge of the market dynamics and understanding of the current and future competition, convinced the developer to opt instead for an office redevelopment with the highest environmental standards in order to attract quality occupants, thanks to the strategic location near the Porte Louise and the Court of Justice.

Once the building permit was granted in 2017, our Office Leasing team decided to present the project to AG Real Estate, one of the largest real estate players in Belgium. AG Real Estate was convinced by the location and the project and acquired 50% of the TWEED project. The construction work started immediately afterwards, in 2018.

Our Office Leasing team left no stone unturned and contacted several high profile potential occupants. Our experts quickly identified the prestigious law firm DLA Piper as the first anchor occupant. DLA Piper signed the first pre-lease of 4,400 square meters in TWEED as early as the third quarter of 2018. DLA Piper was quickly followed by Stepstones / Immoweb and coworking operator Spaces, who also pre-let a portion of TWEED. At the end of 2022, Inditex and Campari decided to move into the building.

TWEED is now fully leased to Class A tenants who enjoy a state-of-the-art office building with high environmental standards.

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03 THE RESULTS

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Complementing this long-term relationship between our office leasing experts and developers, our Capital Markets team successfully advised MACAN Development and AG Real Estate on the disposition of their assets in Q4 2021 in an off-market transaction.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, in a complex market environment, our investment experts played a key role in the transaction with BNP Paribas REIM. Long-term guaranteed cash flow from strong tenants and the development's exceptional location were some of the key factors that allowed this transaction to close for over €110 million and a yield below the 4% cap.