Since 1990, Cushman & Wakefield is involved in 90% of shopping center lease transactions, and 50% of high street retail lease transactions in Belgium. Anspach (Brussels), Médiacité (Liège), K in Kortrijk and historical galleries like the Burlington Arcade in London or the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan are among the projects Cushman & Wakefield recently commercialized.

The Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries are amongst the most photographed buildings in the Belgian capital. At the core of the Ilot Sacré, close to the Grand Place, they welcome about 6 million visitors each year. The covered gallery in the center of Brussels was conceived by architect J.-P. Cluysenaar among others in 1845 and was at the time absolutely unique in Europe. 18 months later, King Leopold I and his two sons were inaugurating the most beautiful galleries on the continent, build on the former Rue Saint-Hubert, including the Queen’s Gallery, the King’s Gallery, and the Princes’ Gallery.

More than 150 years later, the founding families of the project are still leading the Society. The Gallery, which gained urban classing in 1986, is still the same one Victor Hugo, Karl Marx, Alexandre Dumas, Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine, Charles Baudelaire, sisters Bronte and many others once visited back in the 19th Century.

At the Administrator Delegate, Alexandre Grosjean’s initiative, important renovation works were launched as from the start of the nineties. The first phase aimed at the full restoration of the outer frontages and the superb glass roof. The second phase focused on the foundations’ consolidation, the refurbishment of a certain amount of apartments, as well as the revival of both the Vaudeville and the Cinéma Arenberg-Gallery theaters. The third phase, which should take another 4 years from now, will concern the transformation of unoccupied apartments, the restoration of the Hôtel des Arcades (about 1,000 m²), the renovation of the outer frontages, of the Princes’ Gallery, of the Rue des Bouchers’s colonnade, the refurbishment of a few staircases, and the upgrading of the Théâtre des Galeries to the current standards.

These works will conciliate estate protection, adaptation to modern life, and sustainable development. For instance, the possibility of creating photovoltaic energy in situ and the adoption of a more performing and less expensive lighting system will both be investigated in a survey. At the board’s initiative, the renovation of the buildings will go with the modernization of the Society’s management. Reputed professionals in the sector of real estate, like Cushman & Wakefield advise the Society in the development of the Galleries’ new commercial strategy.

Source: Cushman & Wakefield