“The holding company Straco of the De Raedt laboratory family is acquiring a one-third stake in the Belgian real estate developer Downtown. The investment is set to give a boost to the young company’s ambitious growth plans”
The holding company Straco of the De Raedt laboratory family is acquiring a one-third stake in the Belgian real estate developer Downtown. The investment is expected to give a boost to the young company’s ambitious growth plans.
Straco is taking a 35 percent stake in the Brussels-based real estate developer Downtown Development, both companies announced. Straco is the investment holding of Gino De Raedt and Frederica Verheyden, the East Flanders couple who built their fortune with the laboratory group CMA-Medina.
Downtown was founded in 2017 by Alexander Steyns and Jan De Kuyper, who learned the trade under the guidance of Antwerp real estate veteran Eric De Vocht (IRET). The Antwerp developer Serge Hannecart (LIFE) and the Limburg construction entrepreneur Mathieu Gijbels (Immopro) each previously owned a quarter of Downtown. Shortly before the deal with Straco, Steyns and De Kuyper bought out their dormant partners Hannecart and Gijbels.
Steyns, De Kuyper and their partner Werner Joris (also ex-IRET) now hold the remaining 65 percent of Downtown.
Straco and Downtown paid €104 million at the end of last year for the ‘junk of Befimmo’.
Straco’s entry into Downtown coincided with a major transaction by both companies at the end of last year. They then acquired 25 office buildings for €104 million from the real estate group Befimmo. The portfolio was known as the “junk of Befimmo” because it consists of worn-out properties in secondary Belgian cities. Downtown intends to retain all the buildings—currently still leased by the tax authorities—and redevelop them.
Downtown focuses on the redevelopment of large urban projects. In recent years, the young company had to turn to major partners to finance its projects. Downtown is renovating the former IBM Tower (now called Victoria) behind Brussels North Station, together with Filip Balcaen’s investment holding Baltisse. The tower, including a hotel by the trendy The Hoxton chain, is set to open in May.
Together with Straco and Baltisse, Downtown also bid for the redevelopment of the Proximus towers at North Station, which ultimately went to the listed developer Immobel. The same Immobel had previously also snatched the Sint-Michielswarande site of bank ING in Etterbeek from the Downtown–Straco consortium.
Straco’s real estate arm owns retail properties on Waterloolaan in Brussels, Meir in Antwerp and Veldstraat in Ghent. Straco is also the owner of the Ghent luxury real estate developer Odebrecht. The vehicle also holds a stake in Compagnie Het Zoute, owned by the Knokke-based Lippens family.
“Straco’s participation is a catalyst for our ambitions,” says Downtown.
Source: De Tijd
Lukas Vanacker
1 March 2023, 15:20
