With nine months of the year gone, indicators for both the occupier and investment markets remain green. While the investment will be buoyant over the nal quarter of the year, the office take-up has already achieved its highest level since 2010.

1. Leasing activity in the Brussels office market during Q3
continued to show strength with a transaction level of
102,300 sq.m. The year-to-date total of office let or sold is
451,300 sq.m, its highest level since 2010.
Office demand in Q3 was well balanced between the
corporate (54%) and public (46%) sectors. Take-up in the
public sector was led by the pre-letting of 40,000 sq.m in
the Silver Tower, North District by the Brussels Region.
The second largest transaction recorded in this sector was
5,350 sq. m in the “Le Régent” office building, let by the
Representation of Slovenia to the EU.
After three consecutive quarters of boosts by large
transactions, corporate take-up in Q3 reverted to its
familiar pattern of activity from small sized transactions.
Indeed, no transactions over 5,000 sq.m were observed
during summer. The largest transaction was the pre-letting
of the remaining 5,000 sq.m in the Zin Project by the
Belgian serviced office operator Silversquare.
The other notable transactions were the acquisition by
Médecins du Monde of a 4,500 m² building in decentralised
North-West, and the pre-letting of the entire Twenty project
by company Comet Meetings.
Moreover, the occupier market experienced a slowdown in
take-up from serviced office operators, marking the end of
a massive expansion phase in Brussels.
The immediate availability continued its erosion and stood
at 950,000 sq.m in Q3. This level reflects an overall
vacancy rate of 7.4% compared to 7.1% in Q2 and 7.7% in
Q1. The driver of the downward trend in vacancy remains
the absence of projects coming to market on speculative
basis. The dynamic will slowly reverse over the coming
months as scheduled deliveries do arrive, but mainly it will
rise because of vacant space released into the market
from lease expiries.
Once again, the Louise district saw strong vacancy decline
to 5.5% from 7.4% in Q2. Immediate availability in the
North district is extremely limited, reflecting a vacancy rate
of 0.9%. The European district recorded also a decrease of
its vacancy at 4,1%. The CBD market ended the period
with a vacancy rate of 3.1% marked by an extremely low
level of prime supply.
During the last quarter of the year, eight office buildings will
arrive, but there is only space to rent in three. These
buildings are the 18,000 sq.m of Phoenix building (15,030
sq.m of vacant), the 16,300 sq.m of Seven (6% vacant)
and the 16,300 sq.m of Spectrum in City-Centre where
3,900 sq.m are still available.
The speculative pipeline scheduled in 2020 is currently
estimated at 94,200 sq.m exclusively located within the
CBD. The largest project is the delivery of Manhattan

2. Center at 47,600 m², which is
currently 57% vacant.
Although office demand still prefers
modern buildings, the prime rental
level stabilised at €315/sq.m. Average
rents remained relatively unchanged
at the end of the 3rd quarter at €174/
sq.m.
Date Building Transaction Surface
(sq.m)
Tenant District
Q3 2019
Silver Tower - Boulevard Saint-Lazare 2,1210
Brussels
Letting 40,000 Région de Bruxelles-Capitale North
Q3 2019
Le Régent - Boulevard du Régent 45/46,1000
Brussels
Letting 5,350
Representation of Slovenia to the
EU
Leopold
Q3 2019
ZIN in No(o)rd - Avenue Roi Albert II 30,1210
Brussels
Pre-Let 5,000 Silversquare North
Q3 2019 Boulevard Leopold II 184,1080 Brussels Sale 4,500 Médecins du Monde
Dec.
North-
West
Q3 2019 Twenty - Place Stéphanie 20,1050 Brussels Pre-Let 3,069 Comet Meetings Louise
Q3 2019 Avenue Antoon Van Oss 1,1120 Brussels Letting 2,701 Colas
Dec.
North-
West
Q3 2019 Rue du Trône 100,1050 Brussels Letting 2,200 Chirec Leopold
Q3 2019 Platinum - Avenue Louise 233 - 245,1050 Brussels Letting 2,189 Louis Vuitton Belgium Louise
Q3 2019 Corporate Village - Da Vincilaan 9,1930 Zaventem Letting 2,135 FCA Belgium
Peripher
y Airport
Q3 2019 Phoenix - Boulevard Roi Albert II 19,1210 Brussels Letting 2,042 Febelfin North