Management co-ownership

At the crossroads of management and marketing

Retail is about more than just sales. It’s also about working and living together with your colleagues and competitors. The challenge for owners and tenants of retail properties consists in reconciling the legal, commercial, and technical aspects. “The Gouden Kruispunt site in Tielt-Winge is one of those places where our craftsmanship really shows,” says Eric Wauters, head of the CEUSTERS co-ownership department.

The junction—it’s now a roundabout—of the regional N223 and N2 roads in Tielt-Winge is called “Het Gouden Kruispunt”. It’s the name of an important retail park in the Hageland, a 45.200-m2 plot of land that comprises 60 properties. It’s a typical strip mall project, but a very large one that’s owned by 26 di˜erent proprietors.

traordinary commercial success and obviously the owners like to keep it that way. They opted for CEUSTERS to manage the premises for several reasons.”

“On the one hand, they want to outsource property management to professionals. We took over managing the communal areas from the owners who, until recently, took care of that themselves. Our co-ownership department has all the know-how required to ensure legal matters are dealt with by the book. On the other hand, the owners have been asking for the commercial policy to be taken to the next level for years. At CEUSTERS, we also have an extensive marketing department to fully express the commercial aspect. In other words, this synergy is an enormous added value for the owners of Het Gouden Kruispunt. Since the start in 1986, a new era in the history of this park has begun.”

First commercial proposals “In Tielt-Winge, we’re not managing an association of co-owners, strictly speaking. We’re engag

ing in both property and park management . That request came from a number of owners with whom we’ve had a good rapport for years. The owners pointed out the tender to us thanks to this two-fold asset we could pitch.”

This two-fold asset put into practice means that the owners and tenants of Het Gouden Kruispunt have a SPOC, the portfolio manager, who takes care of the operational knowledge of the co-ownership department, the retail management department and the technical & facility services. “In addition to our Antwerp headquarters, we have branch

'Professionalization and continuous training is a must.'

Professionalization is a must To get o˜ to a good start, the preparation of the first general meeting is of great importance. “At such a general meeting we present our proposals, the co-owners approve the budget, they vote on new things, etc.

Over the years, the legal structure of co-ownership was often not completely adapted to the most recent legislation. We always try to find the clearest and most e˜ icient solution for any project. This takes time, because first and foremost, the framework must be flexibly workable. On the 1 st of January, the new co-ownership law will come into e˜ ect and therefore many adjustments must be made. Professionalization and continuous training is a must. Most of our employees, including the agents, have a master’s degree and thorough legal knowledge. If they don’t, we will o˜ er the necessary additional training. Whenever corporate real estate is involved, you need to know your way around the tax and finance aspects, VAT regulations, etc. It may be clear that there is a bespoke solution for every project, as long as the right people are involved. This is where CEUSTERS appears.”