Ceusters Magazine 2021

foundation

Sustainability & Flexibility

Talking about current trends in the real estate market, it is all but impossible to ignore the terms ‘flexibility’ and ‘sustainability’. Both are inextricably linked to the ‘long term’. The concepts can be used and interpreted in multiple ways, but always offer a specific sense of direction. Their aim is to foster a healthy real estate market in the long term, both in terms of residential property and office space, retail and logistics.

Flexibility and sustainability also apply to interactions with clients and employees, and constitute a guideline for all projects. In essence, they are about grafting your own story onto your projects and the spaces you dwell in. You have to lead by example. Always. The office is far from dead, and neither are physical stores. Living, working and shopping should be a genuine part of the social fabric. This experiential philosophy is reflected in the various panel discussions in this magazine.

While rules and regulations are becoming stricter today, there is at the same time no denying that all stakeholders’ commitment to sustainability is growing stronger. All in it together for the long term, that is literally the way forward! As an organisation, Ceusters itself demonstrates this through its affiliation with the United Nations Global Compact – the strategic initiative that supports companies around the world that are committed to responsible business methods based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and an ESG strategy (Environment-Social-Governance). It turns sustainability into something companies do because they really want to, rather than because they have to. And that is an excellent evolution. Sustainability and flexibility are no science fiction. They are real. They are happening, here and now. As the articles in this magazine so clearly demonstrate.

Jorden Goossenaerts , Christine Conix & Frederik Jacobs CONIX RDBM Architects

Content

Editorial 1 Content 3

Offices: The new ways of working 4

Offices: Testimonial Touring 10

Property Management: Shopping centers 14

Retail: Het Pand 18

Logistics: First of class asset 22

Logistics: Super warehouses 28

Agency & Consultancy: Deals Ceusters 30

Investment & Development: Investment properties 32

United Nations Global Compact 36

HR: The Ceusters DNA 39

Ronny Nuten Head of Office Agency at Ceusters

The impact of the new ways of working on the office market

We gathered four real estate experts, Rikkert Leeman, Laurent Calonne, Ronny Nuten and Mathieu Van Marcke, around the table. The topic? The ‘new way of working’. Will we soon return to the office life we had before? Or has home-working become an acquired right? What should the workplace of the future look like? Is it still relevant? These questions ignited an inspired discussion in which the concepts of ‘flexibility’ and ‘balance’ prevailed.

The experiment

Ronny Nuten, Head of Office Agency at Ceusters, jumpstarts the panel discussion. ‘We live in more than interesting times’, he states. ‘After all, the corona crisis has turbocharged a trend that had already been present in the office market for some time: hybrid working. This acceleration has, in turn, set all kinds of dynamics in motion. Not just whether you still need an office or what a present-day workplace should look like, but it also raises questions about labour legislation. How, for example, do you embed home-working into the company policy? And what about insurance? The ‘new way of working’ due to COVID clearly awakens questions about both business accommodation and business management!’ Rikkert Leeman, CEO of Alides, immediately chimes in and proposes looking at the last year and a half as one big experiment. His fellow panel members are immediately intrigued.

Rikkert Leeman: ‘Take, for example, the first full lockdown. The compulsory remote working pleasantly surprised many people: no more annoying commute to work, an easier combination of private tasks with work, the possibility of getting some fresh air during the day, ... Moreover, it turned out that certain work activities, that are rather technical or repetitive in nature, could indeed be done just as well from home. And maybe even better! Because it is easier to focus at home. In short, we can conclude that it was a successful experiment. Thanks also to the good weather. But then comes the other side of the coin. The ‘experiment’ has lasted too long. The novelty soon wore off. The fourth virtual happy hour was one too many. Our heads were about to explode after the umpteenth Teams meeting ... And above all, we have discovered that we are greater social animals than we had ever suspected. I believe in management by walking around; you get so

“We live in more than interesting times.”

much more useful information from informal contacts. There are many mini contact moments in which important information can be checked. You don’t set up a Teams meeting for these small, yet important, things.’

Laurent Calonne: ‘We can’t ignore some of the pros. Multidisciplinary remote cooperation is very successful, at least if it is well supported technically and focussed on well-defined subjects. I have experienced this myself on several occasions. The ‘Teams era’ has generated a lot of work comfort. I can even say that this technology has given our company a productive boost. I just had a very successful meeting while commuting by train thanks to this technology. It used to be unthinkable and would have cost us a lot of time. Working from home helps save on mobility, which results in greater availability. At the same time, you have to add the nuance that traffic to and from work also offers the possibility to switch on and off and, moreover, it is for many people the best time to make some phone calls. But when talking about the pros, we must also honestly name the cons. The best ideas and the crucial social component require a real-life, in-person gathering.’

Mathieu Van Marcke: ‘It was no coincidence that Google abandoned its own experiment of making home-working compulsory for everyone. For both employees and employers, home-working has, besides some positive aspects – which no one will deny and which I believe we will not abandon – also created problems. For example, employees develop stress because their work life and private life are too mixed up and they can no longer vent over a coffee break ... And on the employers’ side, they have seen productivity fall during the compulsory home-working period! Essentially, the peace and quiet of your home can help you concentrate ... but it is not a perfect alternative, and certainly not for all tasks.’

Ronny Nuten: ‘Furthermore, we have noticed another problem here at Ceusters: it is difficult to onboard people. As a family business, we have a company culture that relies on a very transparent and, above all, very close cooperation. It is quite a challenge to convey that culture from a distance.’

“Mini contact moments are important.” RL

“The ‘Teams era’ has generated a lot of work comfort.” LC

Rikkert Leeman CEO of Alides

Laurent Calonne CEO of Banimmo

The office is not dead, on the contrary

The topic of company culture seems to have hit a nerve. ‘I would go as far as to say that there is no such thing as a remote corporate culture. You need people to work together in ‘real life’ for them to move in the same direction. So this experiment can’t be considered as an unqualified success’, Rikkert Leeman responds. All of the panel members nod in agreement. Does that mean that we need to push the pendulum back in the other direction? No, they say in unison. Depending on the organisation, the activities and the culture of the company, we will have to look at how and where work can best be organised.

Rikkert Leeman: ‘We need to find a new equilibrium, which will not be a one-size-fits-all formula. Only a few months ago it was suggested that the office was dead. I am not at all convinced by that hypothesis. On the contrary. How will our situation evolve? Well, it is an iterative process. We are all still searching for the ideal formula and how it can be anchored. Nevertheless, it already seems clear to me that the ‘hygiene’ situation and the corresponding need to alter the spatial layout of the office has undeniably changed things. I don’t see people wanting to sit close to each other in landscape offices any time soon, maybe not ever again. Or under low ceilings and without well-functioning ventilation. Moreover, the average usable area of an employee must evolve from 12 or 13 m² towards 30. That extra ‘oxygen’ seems to have rightfully become an acquired right.’

Laurent Calonne: ‘Cubicles are set to disappear. That is inevitable. I am firmly convinced that office space will more than ever be used in the war for talent. And I’m not talking about the obligatory foosball table or ping-pong table. No, we are talking about offices with, for example, an enjoyable shared food and beverage area instead of a mini-kitchen. A shift to fully equipped meeting places ... The office will be much better suited for both efficient and pleasant cooperation. After all, fully focussed, individual working on a specific task can still be done at home. By providing an office with a pleasant sustainable working environment and all sorts of extra facilities and services, you will be able to make a real difference as an employer.’

The cost of a new office

Ronny Nuten notes that it is inevitable that there will be corrections in the market. ‘Some companies have room for improvement in this area, but that requires necessary investments.’ Which immediately leads Nuten to the next question: ‘Does the gap between the better equipped offices and the others threaten to quickly become much bigger than it already is today?’ Mathieu Van Marcke chimes in and wonders out loud whether, how and to what extent those investments will be able to be passed on.

Rikkert Leeman: ‘In London, it is already visible that the ‘Grade C’ offices are having a very hard time and, at the same time, there is a great shortage of ‘Grade A’ offices, which are easily accessible by bicycle or public transport and enable collaboration and a collective experience in an ultra-modern way. Besides, it may seem like a side issue, but it really isn’t: there have never been so many ergonomic complaints as in the past year and a half. People don’t have the optimal office chairs at home. A workplace brimming with work comfort – with

literally motivating spaces – is a good weapon against the social isolation and the difficult separation of work and private life when working from home… I am firmly convinced that what was good in the past will become even better, and what was bad is deteriorating even faster. The COVID crisis has widened the gap, but the essence of the problem was already there.’

“Companies will opt for a central office.” LC

Laurent Calonne: ‘The shift has definitely begun. Office buildings that were already struggling are finding it even harder to rent out their space. I suspect that companies will opt for a central office – fully equipped, state of the art – with a few small satellite offices. The latter tends a little towards co-working, but that business model has clearly expired. That has now been sufficiently proven. What will continue to work is the provision of services related to co-working: ensuring that room X is equipped with all of the technological facilities, and drinks and catering at a specific time, or that room Y is preheated by a certain time ... I am thinking of real-time, remote control of all kinds of comfort parameters, but also movement detection, presence and absence control and access control. Managing this flexibility requires a certain expertise. In any case, the shift towards even greater digitalisation in office management has begun. In a modern office, technology is taking an increasingly prominent place. And yes, that too requires investment. (offices-as-a-service)’

Flexibility at all levels

Mathieu Van Marcke, president of Realty Belgium, raises the question of how big the return to the office will be once the COVID measures are abolished. Since the pandemic has taken over the world in waves, we have the advantage of being able to look abroad. Van Marcke notes that in China the return to the office is complete and in Australia it is as high as 80%. ‘Quite remarkable. The United States, on the other hand, shows an extremely variable story where the return to the office depends on the sector – with Goldman Sachs forcing everyone back to the office full time and companies like Apple and Microsoft keeping their people at home as much as possible.’ Rikkert Leeman rightly remarks: ‘There is no greater marketing stunt imaginable to promote one’s own services, of course. The technological advances have also undeniably been a boost for alternative approaches to work. The concept of the new way of working is inextricably linked to the technological boost.’ But despite all the technology, none of the panel members see remote working as the nail in the coffin of the office. Or, as Ronny Nuten says: ‘It’s not because home-working is a keeper that the office space is not.’

Laurent Calonne: ‘Many advantages have undeniably been discovered in the last six months and you must try

to cleverly encapsulate these in your own organisation. I believe in a formula in which – obviously depending on the specific activities and sector – x number of days a month can be worked from home combined with a few fixed days at the office. This means that the management at Banimmo will be present at the office on set days and – importantly – be available to our employees all the time. So on those days, we make sure that we are not hauled into meetings throughout the day. Instead of a few fixed days per week working from home, I believe in a fixed number per month, because one project naturally requires more consultation than another. Every week has its own requirements.’

Rikkert Leeman: ‘There’s no denying that flexibility comes at a cost. But it is true that companies today are willing to invest in that flexibility. Precisely because they see that it benefits the working climate and thus productivity. In the large office ecosystem, I see problems emerging elsewhere. Much business travel will be cut − which will also be beneficial from an ecological point of view – and which will have an impact on business hotels. Or take the hospitality sector in office districts ... They have had an incredibly difficult year. Since, as I believe, office life won’t return to full time, they too will have to adapt.’

Ronny Nuten: ‘The decisive factor here is flexibility. The office will thus become a place of cooperation rather than a workplace. The office will continue to play a central and crucial role for companies. We are also noticing this in reality, because we still see companies in the market readily entering into long lease commitments.’

“The office will become a place of cooperation rather than a workplace.” RN

New formulas

Mathieu van Marcke launches a thought experiment: ‘It may be a wild idea, but could a formula work in which company X uses an office for 2 or 3 set days and company Y on the other weekdays? A co-working at company level, as it were ...?’ The reactions at the table speak volumes. The panel members see little point in this idea. After a brief analysis of the dark clouds that are gathering above the very concept of co-working, the members return to the thought experiment.

Laurent Calonne: ‘I don’t believe in that formula. Don’t companies want to radiate a certain individuality? Especially through their offices. Are you going to change the corporate branding every time? Surely not. Companies are right to hold on to their identity. For start-ups, something like this might work. I rather see flexibility as evolving towards an office space that can be expanded or reduced. The possibility of shifting from 100% to 75%, or vice versa. Without having to move. We are already providing that possibility in some projects today, through an option that can be activated during the course of the lease.’

Rikkert Leeman: ‘That kind of flexibility will also come at a price. After all, a hotel room has different price indications when booking for a night or a week. Due to Belgian inertia, certain changes take time. New labour and rental agreements come at a slow pace. It is slightly cynical of me to say, but this inertia also means that companies have time to thoroughly review the office market and take well-founded decisions. But, regardless of how flexible the working days will be in the offices, there is another story at play: sustainability. And there is no time to lose on this front. Investments will have to be made anyway.’

Laurent Calonne: ‘You see, there is nothing as stable as change. The real challenge is how you deal with change (and the speed at which it happens), so we definitely need to aim for flexibility in our thinking and our actions. That flexibility will help us to design offices that cater for rapid change. And to respond to what was said earlier about a ‘new equilibrium’; I believe that there is a demand for a balance between people and technology, but also the environment. In short, new formulas are bound to emerge.’

Rikkert Leeman is the CEO of the Ghent-based real estate investor and developer Alides, geared towards the leading Flemish cities, Brussels, Luxembourg and Poland. The company mainly invests in offices, but also in residential property, hotels, healthcare, student accommodation and semi-industrial property.

Laurent Calonne is CEO of the real estate developer Banimmo, which is based in Brussels. The civil engineer describes himself as an innovator and a sustainability believer, and he has extensive experience in real estate development.

Mathieu Van Marcke is a member of the board of directors of Ceusters, organiser of the real estate summit Realty, founder of the real estate communication agency hooox and an active investor in PropTech start-ups.

Ronny Nuten is Head of Office Agency for Ceusters and is responsible for a team of a dozen consultants spread over four offices in Flanders and Brussels.

A sustainable future

The sector has changed enormously in recent years. Even before COVID. The aim for ‘sustainability’ wasn’t new, for example. In that light, the Energy Performance of Buildings regulations, also known as the EPB standards, have been introduced, causing offices built in 2006 to be completely outdated in terms of EPB today. The commercial life-span of a building has been shortened as a result. At the same time, the office concept is being profoundly reinvented. After the abandonment of the classic office concept at the end of the 1990s and the introduction of the landscape offices, we are now clearly ready for something new.’

Ronny Nuten: ‘It must be said: everything is constantly changing. That is not easy. As a building owner, you don’t want to price yourself out of the market, you have to keep investing – both in terms of the furnishing and the modularity of the building, and in terms of energy and sustainability ...’

Laurent Calonne: ‘Just think of certificates such as the sustainability label BREEAM (in full ‘Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method’) for the realisation of sustainable buildings with minimal environmental impact as of 2009. Or the WELL Building Standard, which monitors up to 700 scientifically-based criteria to see if your building supports the well-being of its employees ...’

Circular Sustainability in Antwerp Headquarters

CONIX RDBM Architects were already considering moving to a new office before the pandemic. “We wanted a contemporary office, one with long-term potential. Because the best way to feel optimistic about the future is to shape it yourself,” says Christine Conix. “Since then, our plans have really started to take shape. These days, you can often spot us in a cheerful mood at a construction site on Antwerp’s Mechelsesteenweg, because we’ll be moving into the ground floor of the former premises of the Antwerp Water Works. We found the location thanks to the local expertise and mediation of Ceusters and its office department. Our new office will combine flexibility with (circular) sustainability. These two nouns summarise how we see the new way of working (which was obviously influenced by trends that the pandemic set in motion) and, above all, how we see the offices of the future. We want to lead by example,” Jorden Goossenaerts explains.

It is clear that technology will play a key role in the new office. CONIX RDBM Architects is planning a giant screen with a height of 3.5 metres, for example, to display all kinds of content; in line with the idea of ‘show, don’t tell’, the screen will present clients and employees with a gripping visual story. The screen is part of a large, open space that is ideally suited for events – including after-hours activities. “The company restaurant – to use a conventional and rather boring word – will straddle multiple concepts. Once the working day is over, it will morph into a regular restaurant. All of this means we’ll be strengthening our connection with the urban fabric. We’re literally inviting the city into our office. The workspace in the office will primarily be a place to work together, as a team,” Christine Conix points out.

Rikkert Leeman: ‘Development has undeniably become more expensive. The list of expectations and criteria to be met keeps growing. Anyone who wasn’t in on it before COVID is now fully aware. And this is the background against which the search for the future of office life is taking place. But one thing is clear to me: the office is not dead. In fact, the office will play an even more crucial role in our professional lives. It will look different, that’s for sure. And in my opinion, it will become a better place for better co-working.’

“Flexibility is key, as is sustainability. We’re using so-called urban mining for the interior design of our new office. When ING’s former head office in Het Zandkasteel in Amsterdam was being dismantled, for example, we salvaged a series of glass partitions. We’re also repurposing their insulation walls – filled with recycled jeans! – which we’re currently using in a temporary project in Brussels. And we made sure to reuse everything that was already present in the old office on the Mechelsesteenweg. We didn’t let anything go to waste. For us, sustainability means 100% circular sustainability. In terms of energy, we’re also pulling out all the stops, with fully circular management of heat and cooling, including a green digital processing unit. This not only eliminates the need to install new windows, but also means that our office will have the power to heat the entire building. We do it because we can, because we believe in it and because it works! It’s a story we’ve written ourselves and which we’re replicating in our projects,” Jorden Goossenaerts concludes with a strong sense of commitment.

“The office will play an even more crucial role.” RL

The office as a cool place to be

In early 2022, Touring’s headquarters will move from the Rue de la Loi to the brand new Quatuor complex located between the Place Charles Rogier and Brussels-North railway station. We talked to Véronique Brasseur, Touring’s HR Director, about the how and why of this move and the search for an office that had to meet quite a few criteria.

Touring’s current headquarters lie in the European district; more specifically, in the Rue de la Loi. Spread over eight floors, some 400 employees provide an optimal service to their members and B2B customers. Today, Touring, as a player in the multimodality sector, provides roadside assistance to cars, bicycles, kick scooters, one-wheelers, motorbikes, scooters and much more. It also seeks answers to all of the possible mobility questions with which our society is confronted today. In short, Touring has come a long way since it started out as a cycling club in 1895, before, in 1948, becoming the first Belgian company to assist drivers on the road with 12 road assistance workers.

‘At the end of the nineties, an extensive renovation was completed. Several manor houses were transformed into one large office complex. Two decades later, the new, once quite modern, office was already very outdated. A ‘modernisation’ was needed. However, that turned out to not be so simple, since building and office standards have evolved greatly over the years’, says Véronique Brasseur. ‘These new standards meant that we would actually have to start from scratch. As the owner of the building, we then discussed certain considerations. Would we completely gut and rebuild the building? That would mean that we would have to move temporarily and then move again. Was that really the way we wanted to go? In addition, we also asked ourselves whether this was still the ideal place for our headquarters. Until, as luck would have it, a property developer came forward and offered to buy the building on attractive terms. Our choice was quickly made. We were going to start a completely new project. After the finalisation of the sale at the end of 2019, we were given two full years to move.’

Véronique Brasseur has been HR Director at Touring since September 2018. Prior to that, she worked as HR Business Director at t-group and HR Manager at Alcatel, Microsoft and Crossroad Consulting, among others.

Catherine Leheureux is Senior Consultant Offices Brussels at Ceusters and acknowledged as a member of SIOR.*

*SIOR is the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors. The society is active in 32 countries and is recognized as the leading professional commercial and industrial real estate association.

Véronique Brasseur: ‘We set up a strategic exercise. What is our ambition for the future? What kind of office do we want? And where? How do we see the new way of working? What is important for us as an organisation and for our employees? We work in shifts, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That means that our employees must be able to feel 100% safe when they come to the office. As a major Belgian mobility organisation, we wanted to remain in the Brussels Capital Region and be easily accessible by various modes of transport. Nowadays, many of our employees use public transport, so the proximity of a train and metro station was an important condition, but we also wanted to encourage the use of bicycles. A safe cycling route, a spacious bicycle shed, charging facilities for electric bicycles and shower rooms were therefore also a must. That was not so easy in the Rue de la Loi. If, as a company, you want to contribute to building the mobility of the future, you have to follow your own advice, of course. We also wanted a parking infrastructure with sufficient charging stations for electric cars.

Sustainability is also very important to us. So it had to be a centrally located, ecological and state-of-the-art building with plenty of natural light. Because, yes, we immediately wanted to take the opportunity to choose a building that would reflect positively on our organisation and boost our innovative drive. Those are quite a few parameters to meet. Especially when combined with a strict moving deadline and the need to have our own concept store – visible from the street – in the new building.’

Véronique Brasseur HR Director at Touring

What criteria did the new headquarters have to meet?

“We wanted to choose a building that would reflect positively on our organisation and boost our innovative drive.”

At the end of 2019, the search for a new head office, both in terms of location and interpretation, was launched. What will your new office look like?

Véronique Brasseur: ‘Starting from our strategic exercise, we looked at how many square metres we would need in the new head office if we were to switch to a home-working policy of two days a week. We started this ‘new’ way of working before the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. Afterwards, the compulsory full-time remote working only confirmed the idea that it could be done. In other words, COVID helped us in this shift. At the same time, it was also clear to us that we had to go for a different layout of the office space. One that would promote interdepartmental cooperation; gone was the classic picture of one department per floor. With a central lift and a staircase that is somewhat camouflaged, there was far too little spontaneous contact between the departments in our office in the Rue de la Loi. That is a terrible shame, because in my experience that is how the best ideas come about. So we ended up in the Quatuor complex on the corner of the Boulevard Baudouin and the Boulevard Roi Albert II, close to Place Charles Rogier and the Brussels-North railway station. We rent 3 spacious floors in the C-Tower, aka The Cloud, of the Quatuor complex. One floor has been fully equipped as a ‘collaboration’ zone, accessible via an internal staircase from the work café. The main aim was to be close to each other, without being too close to each other. The slogan that encompasses everything for us is ‘A cool place to be’. With the emphasis on ‘to be’. Since we are convinced that an employee is much more than just a talented professional.’

‘A cool place to be’ can also be an additional asset in the war for talent.

Véronique Brasseur: ‘It sure can. From an HR perspective, this move is a super interesting exercise. We are creating a pleasant, inspiring and stimulating work environment that employees will enjoy coming to and where cooperation will be the focal point. Such a move is, of course, a narrative of change and people management; a challenge for which my own work experiences have served me well. I started my career at Alcatel, and after many years I moved to Microsoft. I literally moved from an ‘old’ environment to a super-modern building. From the moment you walked in, you could feel the energy, the innovation ... the urge to jump in. An inspiring office environment can really have a substantial impact. That’s where you want to work. The COVID crisis has made it clear that working from home is possible, but at the same time, the call for an office as a crucial place for meeting and working together is louder than ever. We must make this space as attractive as possible.’

Talking about collaboration: this move is the result of a collaboration between Vinci, Brainmove and Ceusters.

Véronique Brasseur: ‘In Vinci we found the partner who wanted to initiate and guide the entire process. They then called in Brainmove and Ceusters, who each brought their own expertise to the table. And expertise is not just a luxury for such a large project. Catherine Leheureux of Ceusters brought the necessary real estate expertise on board. She has a particularly good understanding of the Brussels office market, which is a very specific market. In order to find an office building that would meet all of our parameters, you really can’t ask just anyone.’

How was the cooperation with these partners?

Véronique Brasseur: ‘The collaboration within that ecosystem was nothing short of excellent. Ceusters worked with us on our in-house strategic exercise and looked for office buildings that met all of the criteria on our rather extensive list. [laughs] In our search for our new office, we worked intensively with the Brussels team at Ceusters, led by Catherine Leheureux, and evolved a longlist of 15 buildings to a shortlist, before finally arriving at the Quatuor, which we visited during the start-up phase. Literally with a helmet on our heads and wellies on our feet, between the scaffolding and the concrete mixers! 3D models filled in the missing pieces. And so, at the beginning of 2022, we will move into a brand new office in which we will not only feel at home right away, but which will also offer us the necessary energy and drive for the future!’

Catherine Leheureux Senior Consultant at Ceusters - SIOR

It’s all about the shopping experience

Together with Toon De Meester, Operations Director of Retail Property Management at CEUSTERS, we examine the extent of the pandemic’s impact on shopping centres and take a look at the innovative ideas that emerged as a result. Will we soon be shopping in a completely different way?

Background

The coronavirus crisis came as a huge economic blow to shopping centres – places that unite catering and retail outlets. “For many shoppers, lockdown meant an end to their ‘regular outing’. And then there was all the hassle with face masks, disinfecting your hands, social distancing, a limited number of people per shop… It made shopping a lot less pleasant,” Toon De Meester says. “The activity just wasn’t the same as before, no matter how hard the retailers and organisations involved worked on all kinds of scenarios to combine health and safety with shopping comfort.”

Luckily, early September 2020 brought a turnaround. For a while, things seemed as if they might be back to normal again…

Toon De Meester: “We witnessed a sharp increase in visitor numbers. At the same time, however, all these additional measures and provisions put enormous invisible pressure on retailers. This was quickly followed by a new semi-lockdown. Everyone then worked extremely hard to make shopping go smoothly via click & collect systems. All kinds of online platforms were set up at almost unprecedented speed. But it turned out that customers don’t really take to this kind of shopping. Precisely because it was at odds with the traditional shopping experience, and certainly because food and drinks establishments stayed shut. The fact that this happened during the most commercially interesting period of the year was an additional major setback.”

What had always seemed to be the major advantage – no need to worry about rain or bad weather – became shopping centres’ Achilles heel. Because everything in shopping centres happens indoors...

“The presence of cafés and restaurants is a huge attraction for shopping centres, but of course they have no – or hardly any – outdoor terraces. While the air quality in our shopping centres is constantly monitored, these establishments still weren’t able to open their doors. People are now talking about the introduction of mandatory CO2 meters; But we’ve already been using these in shopping centres for 10 years…”

Retailers and their staff have shown incredible resilience throughout the whole pandemic.

“Complete closure, reopening with measures, click & collect, shopping by appointment,... We’ve seen it all. Each system demanded a different approach. That’s very tasking, especially if you combine it with customers who feel like they’re walking on eggshells under all these difficult circumstances. Retailers deserve the greatest respect for their agility and commitment. The same goes for the obliging attitude and goodwill of the owners. Luckily, there are plenty of indications that once all Covid measures have been lifted, everything will take off again. Naturally, we hope that retailers will finally be able to experience another outstanding end-of-year period in 2021. They’ve really earned it.”

Toon De Meester Operations Director of Retail Property Management at CEUSTERS

The crisis as an opportunity

It is an economic law that a harsh crisis opens the door to new initiatives. But are things that simple for the concept of shopping centres?

“Our shopping centres have proven that the world belongs to the daring and the innovative. Concepts such as Fitchen and La Boutique in K in Kortrijk or O Taco’s and Asie A Tik in Les Grand Prés in Mons are all responding to the new ‘healthy fast food’ trend. These are attractive concepts for the younger generations, who are ultimately the customers of the future. The importance of food and drinks cannot and should never be underestimated for shopping centres. Businesses that respond to the latest trends will naturally – and quite rightly so – have a head start. The fact that people have the courage to open new businesses even in the most difficult times is certainly to be welcomed. This also shows that retailers themselves strongly believe in the future of shopping centres.”

In many sectors, there has been an extra focus on marketing. Does this also apply to shopping centres?

“If customers can’t make it to stores, it goes without saying that you need to focus more strongly on marketing and communication. That way, you maintain your relationship with existing customers or create one with potential customers. The more creative the communication, the greater the effect and connection, as this past year showed. In addition to pure Covid communication, major steps were taken in terms of social media and databases in particular. Because of this, shopping centres can now get in touch with consumers much faster than before.”

Wijnegem even took things a step further with a genuine augmented reality app.

“This is a first for the country, and we at Ceusters are very proud of this. Together with a team of developers, we created an application that combined indoor GPS and gaming. Starting in September 2021, visitors will not only be able to easily find their way around the shopping centre with this app, they will also be able to ‘catch’ all kinds of logos by scanning the space. These logos contain a discount or entitle them to something fun. This will make shopping in Wijnegem a bit more of a family outing and allow youngsters to save some money by cashing in on discounts!” (laughs)

“We’ll keep feeling the effects of the measures that were imposed for a while longer, there’s no doubt about that. Retailers have had to drastically cut their margins to be able to survive, but owners too have made great efforts to support their tenants. This latter aspect remains somewhat underexposed today. And wrongly so, because we’re talking about large sums of money being written off. Of course, these organisations also have their own obligations, which put them under pressure to continue to guarantee the health of their own business. For this reason, projects were often postponed. We’ll probably see quite a bit of catching up in the next few years.”

In the coming years, the sustainability story will undoubtedly be further still be developed.

The shopping experience is becoming even more important than before, in other words.

“The crisis has taught us that it is crucial to pay the utmost attention to the shopping experience itself, which should be brilliant under any circumstances. At Ceusters, we are convinced that once everything returns to normal, consumers won’t easily be satisfied with that normal life. This is forcing us to work on the details of our management more than ever before.”

“With good management in mind, we are always committed to the monitoring and far-reaching optimisation of shared charges. Which is why we can present excellent results for the consumption of electricity, gas and water at each of our sites. But our sustainability story goes further than that. Employment also fits into this context. A shopping centre guarantees the employment of low-skilled people and therefore has a strong social impact. We’re working closely with social organisations like VDAB or Weerwerk to be able to quickly get back on track. We strongly believe that focusing on the long term and applying a sustainable approach is the most beneficial for all stakeholders and we will therefore keep investing in strong partnerships with our clients, tenants and customers.”

“At Ceusters, we are convinced that once everything returns to normal, consumers won’t easily be satisfied with that normal life.” TDM

Can we already estimate the longterm impact of the coronavirus crisis on shopping centres?

Positivity following tough times

Stefanie Van den Rul and Axel Ceusters are both COO at Ceusters: “I mainly focus on property management, while Axel oversees retail, shopping centres and the commercial side of things,” Stefanie Van den Rul says. “We manage 1,300 retail leases, with a total of 6,000 leases on our books. This makes us the largest manager of retail property in Belgium. We’ve had a remarkable 18 months, to put it mildly, with all the inevitable ups and downs. In May, we noticed people started to resume their old habits. One month later, as the catering sector reopened, we were already back at 90% of our pre-pandemic figures. We know this because we collect and monitor all possible data, figures and visitor numbers very carefully.”

“To this, we add strong marketing efforts. The European trade association (former ICSC Europe) has already awarded us the title of ‘best in class’ for shopping centre marketing on several occasions,” Axel Ceusters adds. “There are plenty of reasons for positivity, which is more than welcome after a very tough period. A small anecdote to illustrate my point: my daughter was born on 17 March 2020. Literally a few hours before the country went into full lockdown. Unfortunately, we had to put some employees on temporary leave. I contacted all of them myself. As a family business, we attach great importance to a human approach. You should never shirk away your responsibilities in difficult times. When it came to the shopping centres, we also had to try to reduce costs – like security or energy costs – as much as possible. And we continuously had to keep our international clients informed of what was happening in Belgium.”

Operationally, one challenge was quickly followed by another. “In those very early days, we had to order 200,000 face masks when they were barely available, for example. We managed to get them, partly thanks to the Wexcellent cooperation with the highly committed owners. We also had to constantly prepare for the ever-changing measures. We wouldn’t find out until 11pm what was in the ministerial decree that would take effect the next day. Not to mention all the other local bans and obligations… The incredible resilience all those involved demonstrated at the time is truly deserving of praise,” Axel Ceusters says.

Axel Ceusters COO of Ceusters

Stefanie Van den Rul COO of Ceusters

The city centre as an experience centre

City centres are the shopping centres of the future. Waregem and Het Pand, the completely renovated shopping centre in the city centre, serve as prime examples. We got together with the mayor of Waregem, Kurt Vanryckeghem, alderman Kristof Chanterie and Bart Verschelde, director of Wagso, to discuss why Het Pand is such a success story.

Waregem scores better than the Flemish average.

It is estimated that more than 1 in 10 retail properties in Flanders are vacant. In real terms, this amounts to a total of more than 5,000 premises. Waregem’s vacancy rate is far below the average; in the core shopping area, the figure is even below 8%. The number of shops per 1,000 inhabitants is almost a third higher than in the rest of the Flemish Region. Here, there are fewer longterm vacancies; empty commercial premises quickly find a new tenant.

A proud Waregem mayor Kurt Vanryckeghem explains why: “The city of Waregem takes numerous initiatives to keep vacancies to a minimum. One of these is the total renovation of shopping centre Het Pand, which is owned by the municipality. Waregem has a good mix of chains and independent shops. This balance between larger retailers and strong local traders is very important and has just been consolidated by the renovation of Het Pand.”

“The balance between larger retailers and strong local traders is very important.” KV

Kurt Vanryckeghem Mayor of Waregem

HET PAND - WAREGEM

Waregem as a retail city

This seems to tie in perfectly with a bigger picture of city centres as the shopping centres of the future. But for this to become a reality, city centres would need to be managed in the same way...

Kurt Vanryckeghem: “Indeed, strengthening the city centre is very important in a regional city like Waregem. Today, pressure on the retail sector is very high. Customers are evolving too. It’s crucial for a city to do everything in its power to support and guide this evolution. A resurgence of city centres is possible if you focus on creating an attractive core shopping area with an appealing and diverse range, combined with sufficient experience-related aspects.”

Kristof Chanterie, alderman of the local economy: “In Waregem, the renovation of Het Pand is one of the pillars that really makes all the difference in the heart of the core shopping area. The city council itself is investing 17.5 million euros in the renovation. As landlord, we also look for new tenants ourselves. We do so through WAGSO, the Waregems Autonoom Gemeentebedrijf StadsOntwikkeling (Waregem Autonomous Municipal Company for Urban Development). In our capacity as lessor, we ensure we have a direct impact on the retail scene. We also have a city coach, which ensures that the entire core shopping area can be managed even more effectively to form a coherent whole with Het Pand. Today, more than 60 percent of Het Pand has already been rented out again, even though the renovation is only scheduled to be finished in August 2022.”

The city of Waregem is profiling itself as a genuine retail city. The renovation plans for Het Pand certainly helped. All the retail premises are being given a major refurbishment, including buildings with shop windows with a height of no less than 5 metres. Around 800 square metres of retail space is also being added for both independent or local traders and large chains. “Not to mention the integrated, ultra-efficient parking, an experience square and a city garden!” adds alderman Kristof Chanterie.

Flemish Minister of Economy Hilde Crevits:

“Many people turned to online shopping during the pandemic, but at the same time, people in Flanders have also (re)discovered local shopping en masse these past twelve months. As a result, now is the perfect time to focus on creating pleasant trading centres where it’s nice to live, work and shop. Something we sorely need, as 11% of business premises in Flanders are empty. But we’re not leaving local authorities to fend for themselves in this arena. We have an action plan entitled ‘Werk aan de Winkel’, which includes an investment fund that will help municipalities purchase and transform commercial premises. In addition, our ‘Profploeg’ team of experts serves as a kind of superhero rescuer for trading centres. It’s not just a financial boost or a new study, but an actual team that can set new standards on the ground. Waregem is doing something that ought to be possible in many municipalities and cities: developing a site where shopping, work, food, culture and leisure merge to create an attractive public space. In other words, a place where residents enjoy spending time.” - Hilde Crevits

Bart Verschelde, director of WAGSO: “As far as we know, Het Pand is the only shopping centre in Flanders that is owned by a municipality. The city of Waregem owns the entire commercial part of the complex as well as the majority of the administrative buildings. As a subsidiary of the city, WAGSO manages these commercial retail and office spaces and will ensure that the available units are leased in the future. For this, we’ve entered into a partnership with Ceusters.”

Kristof Chanterie Alderman of the local economy

Smart collaboration

The context is well-known. More online shopping, fewer retailers, fewer independent entrepreneurs, new mobility... All these developments are presenting local authorities across the country with a major problem. How can we reinvent our ‘trading system’ so that city centres survive as attractive commercial hubs?

What assets does Waregem city centre offer?

Mayor Kurt Vanryckeghem: “Across all policy areas, we’re working on the same goal based on a single, com prehensive plan: ensuring our city is and remains attractive to residents, shoppers and visitors alike. Waregem has one major asset: everything here is within walking distance. Shops, cafés and restaurants, but also the library, other cultural buildings and even our football stadium are located in an area the size of a handkerchief, so to speak. In addition, there’s plenty of greenery in this area. That small scale is an enor mous advantage.”

But you wanted to take things even further…

Kurt Vanryckeghem: “Indeed we did. To enhance the city centre even further, we set up a think tank with various experts and specialists. The aim of Flemish Minister of Economy Hilde Crevits is to bring together municipal administration, post offices, stores, food and drinks outlets and leisure activities in a single place in order to create more interaction. Our goal in Waregem

Bart Verschelde: “This certainly requires some smart alliances. The project is the result of a think tank that was launched in 2017. The central starting point at the time was the future of Het Pand. We created various working groups and drew up a strategic commercial plan. And that’s how our path crossed with that of the biggest manager of shopping centres in our country, Ceusters. Under the leadership of Dominique Desmeytere, we embarked on a coaching trajectory. This allowed Het Pand to attract new tenants, including the supermarket Albert Heijn, which will occupy 2,000 m² – the largest space.”

Kristof Chanterie: “The collaboration with Ceusters began about after we held a procurement competition. The assignment included both the preparation and supervision of the commercial aspects of the renovation project, as well as an agreement to attract new tenants by the reopening of the complex in August 2022. Thanks to this far-reaching collaboration, a number of new commercial leases have already been concluded with both local and (inter)national players. The major added value here was the combination of the expertise of Ceusters, which

Dominique Desmeytere Shopping Center Manager at Ceusters

allowed the right connections to be made, and the local anchoring that ensured independent businesses were interested as well.”

Bart Verschelde: “This industry mix between appealing local traders and retailers has always been one of the strengths of Het Pand. We definitely want to keep this mix in the future. Ceusters certainly provides good support in this respect.”

By completely renovating the shopping centre in the inner city, you’re also targeting the city centre. How are you handling these two sides of the story?

Kristof Chanterie: “Together with the existing traders, who were forced to move due to the renovation, we succeeded in giving an attractive interpretation to empty commercial premises in the city centre. In brief, we used the pop-up system. It’s actually a win-win situation: traders can seamlessly continue their activities in the city centre while vacancies are kept to a minimum. We also guaranteed them that they would be able to reoccupy their original place in Het Pand after the renovation.”

Kurt Vanryckeghem: “To this day, we’re very satisfied with the collaboration between the city council, WAGSO and Ceusters. And all business is conducted in our very own language, West Flemish! (chuckles) It’s a great example of teamwork. We always tried to achieve the best possible balance between supporting the traders who were already in Het Pand and attracting new ones. Bringing together expertise and local knowledge and –above all – a great deal of commitment is what enabled us to elevate the story of Het Pand and Waregem city centre and turn it into a success story.”

Ceusters brings seeking parties together

The Albert Heijn supermarket will be the star attraction at Het Pand in Waregem. By enabling the lease agreement, Ceusters ensured a perfect match between the city, the shopping centre and the well-known supermarket chain. Albert Heijn will occupy a retail space of just under 2,000m2 and will use an additional storage space of more than 500m2. The retail space occupies slightly over 30% of the commercial ground floor area of the shopping centre. Both the city and the retailer had been looking for a suitable location for six years. Thanks to Ceusters, the pieces of the puzzle now fit together nicely, while an optimal industry mix between local traders and strong brands – which was the goal specified for Het Pand – is taking shape. In addition to the wellknown supermarket, the arrival of other strong brands like Hans Anders and Kameleon has also been confirmed.

Ceusters was given the task of both bringing in new retailers and helping existing tenants find the best possible spot (and connection with their target group) in the completely renovated Waregem shopping centre. Balance established and mission completed, we would say!

Logistics, first of class asset after the pandemic

We brought Christophe Wuyts and Kristof De Witte, two experts in logistics around the table. The subject of the discussion? The recent evolution of the logistics real estate market and the actual and future trends. It should come as no surprise to learn that flexibility and sustainability are the order of the day in this sector.

A fruitful collaboration

How do your companies work together?

Kristof De Witte: “At WDP, we purchase, develop, manage and lease logistics real estate with the aim of compiling a portfolio that gives our shareholders a recurring cash flow. Our client base consists of third-party logistic companies, like DHL, and end users. We have an extensive network of companies that we have been assisting at various locations for years. When it comes to end-user clients, we work closely with Ceusters. They pick up on requests from companies we are not yet familiar with, and we can then respond appropriately. Over the years, Ceusters has become a strong player in logistics real estate, with an extensive national and international network. That’s our link. We are also both family-owned businesses, which means we share certain values, like a long-term focus.”

Christophe Wuyts: “We worked with WDP on a variety of transactions and closed a nice deal during summer. The warehouse lease by Rogue in Bornem, which is a great project for illustrating our shared vision on logistics real estate. Rogue, which is based in Columbus, Ohio, is an American manufacturer of premium fitness equipment. They asked us to find a logistics hub that was not only strategically well-located, but also energy-efficient and available within a short time. That kind of request isn’t easy to fulfil in a market that’s experiencing great scarcity. But together with WDP, we found the right place anyway. It is an existing site that will completely be converted to suit their requirements.”

WAREHOUSE GENK (WDP)

A lack of available land, reconversion and increased sustainability – are these today’s key themes in the logistics sector?

Christophe Wuyts: “They’re only the start! (laughs) There’s a great demand for (semi-)industrial and logistics space. At the same time, fewer plots are available and the requirements imposed on these kinds of buildings are becoming ever more stringent. Not to mention the so-called ‘concrete stop’, a clampdown on consuming open green space for construction projects. We are therefore convinced that the future lies largely in infill development and the reconversion of existing peripheral industrial buildings.”

Kristof De Witte: “This in turn requires substantial investments. It’s an exercise we’ll need to carry out for our older buildings anyway – WDP has been around for forty years, after all. You could choose not to do this. There’s a lot of demand, after all. But we see things differently. Not investing would be a very short-term decision. Whereas sustainability used to be a ‘nicehave’, these days it’s a must-have for many companies. And fortunately so.”

Sustainability is anchored in the corporate policy of many companies. You really can’t ignore it these days...

Kristof De Witte: “There’s a high demand for buildings with an ‘Outstanding’ BREEAM certificate. That’s because larger companies literally have to be able to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability. As a listed market leader, we want to be best in class and – as in the Rogue story, for example –are making all kinds of substantial investments in sustainability.”

Christophe Wuyts: “Ceusters joined the United Nations Global Compact because we want to commit to the same sustainable goals. These investments also have a very positive effect on the long-term value of REITs: rents can be higher and the valuation of your portfolio increases. It all fits together nicely, because the stock market value follows suit. Which, in the case of WDP, explains the interest of foreign investment funds.

Kristof De Witte: “Multimodality is just one of the many sustainable aspects that come into play. At WDP we don’t just tick the boxes: we genuinely believe that organisations have to take society and the environment into account.”

A sustainable investment

“Larger companies have to be able to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability.” CW

Christophe Wuyts Head of the Industrial Agency at CEUSTERS - MRICS SIOR

Kristof De Witte Development & Acquisitions Director at WDP

The boost of e-commerce

Did the coronavirus crisis give e-commerce (and, by extension, the logistics sector) a significant boost?

Christophe Wuyts: “Let’s just say that Belgium initially lagged behind a little – e-commerce had been a big thing internationally for a long time – and that the pandemic made us start to catch up. Even my parents are now also ordering online, for example.”

Kristof De Witte: “The pandemic has undeniably had a positive impact on the sector and set a lot of things in motion. Previously, there was the ‘Just In Time’ concept. Nowadays, we have ‘Just In Case’. People don’t want to run out of goods, so they want to have a decent stock. Take the current problems with regard to semiconductors in the automotive sector, for example. ‘Just In Case’ is a completely different vision on how to approach logistics as a company. People also have little patience and want things to be delivered very quickly.”

But in order to deliver quickly, your warehouse shouldn’t be too far from your customers...

Kristof De Witte: “This means that demand for a large central warehouse, in combination with various city hubs, is steadily increasing. Which in turn has an impact on the logistics real estate market. Because these kinds of city hubs don’t actually need to be all that large – 5,000m2 or so will do – but you do need the necessary space to accommodate all those trucks and vans. And as I said, there’s not that much land available around here…”

Christophe Wuyts: “Just try finding space for a 5,000 m2 local hub on the edge of a central city. Well, actually, that’s our job. (laughs) In that sense, giving a brownfield business park a second life can be a smart option.”

“Belgium initially lagged behind in terms of e-commerce. The pandemic made us start to catch up.” CW

WAREHOUSE CALLEBAUT (WDP)

International but still local

If the Antwerp-Brussels axis is overcrowded, don’t you have to look further and further afield to be able to accommodate logistics real estate?

Kristof De Witte: “The Antwerp-Brussels axis is the place to be if your company focuses on the Benelux. If your scope is wider, you’ve got more opportunities. Take Ghent, Genk or Laakdal, for example. At WDP, we naturally keep an eye on this evolution. We’re constantly scouting good locations, also outside the Benelux and France. Companies first look at logistics flows, then national borders. Only then will they examine how a certain location could affect their business operations. We’re now working with VID from Munich to see how we could anchor ourselves in North Rhine-Westphalia, for example. Our Bavarian colleagues have specific German knowledge of things like taxation, which we ourselves don’t have. What we do have is a network of companies from the Netherlands and Belgium that could be based in that specific region. A winwin situation, in other words.”

Christophe Wuyts: “You should look at the logistics real estate market on a micro, meso and macro level. That’s why Ceusters Industrial Agency evolved relatively quickly, from 2 to 9 employees who are active both locally as on the international market. It’s all about picking up on demands and matching these with the right location and the right player. The right location could therefore be in many different places. At least in theory, because in practice, pickings are slim. But no matter how international a company’s scope might be, in-depth local knowledge and anchoring remains essential. You need to properly analyse and understand the market. Just because a company should ideally settle in, say, Dubai, doesn’t mean that they will. If the company has always been based in Lokeren, it won’t easily move away. You need to take that kind of thing into account.”

Kristof De Witte: “Local knowledge is essential. At WDP, we’re constantly on the lookout for strategically situated locations. You need to think along with your clients. And anticipate things! Essentially, it’s all about putting together the pieces of the puzzle in a smart way. We strongly believe in the concept of cluster locations, for example. Companies looking to expand don’t really want to move beyond a radius of 15km, let alone 25km. After all, they want to retain their staff who are already so difficult to find. In that sense, a good location is also an essential part of the war for talent. So while it requires some additional investment at the start, we always choose to make new buildings divisible, to ensure expansion or reduction is possible at one and the same site.”

“We strongly believe in the concept of cluster locations.” KDW

WAREHOUSE ROGUE

(WDP)

Flexibility is key

As with office real estate, flexibility also seems to be the order of the day in the logistics sector.

Christophe Wuyts: “That’s right: this evolution is becoming increasingly clear in the logistics real estate market. Take the concept of a campus of 100,000 m², for example. You can keep clients on a site by being able to respond flexibly to their needs at their existing site, for example by ensuring you have the right of first refusal to adjacent space. Remember: it’s an incredible advantage for a company not to have to move and to be able to simply expand on location. It’s a human story too, as it allows you to retain your employees. Don’t forget that, despite all the robotics these days, the logistics world is still a sector that employs many people.”

Kristof De Witte: “Not everything can be automated. This is also because automation, in relation to the duration of a lease, is sometimes not beneficial at all. Precisely because so many people work in logistics, and because demand for workers is so high, you shouldn’t overlook the aspect of social wellbeing. Which in turn – and quite rightly so – requires the necessary investments in the buildings. Incidentally, flexibility also occurs in other areas. Because we’re dealing with the omni-channel concept these days. Logistics companies now serve shops, wholesalers and individual consumers alike. And that means managing three different flows at the same time.”

Flexibility also means being able to foresee which demand will arise for which location and at which moment in time, which is not easy.

Kristof De Witte: “Insight like that does indeed require in-depth market knowledge and cooperation with partners who have an extensive national and international network, just like Ceusters. Flexibility not only plays a role in the event of expandability within a site, but also when it comes to relocations. What should you do in the case of a merger or acquisition? Where’s the best place to accommodate your logistics hub then?”

Although e-commerce has boosted the logistics market, the resulting increase in mobility caused by delivering parcels is putting pressure on the environment. Surely this won’t be sustainable in the long term?

Christophe Wuyts: “As with many things, some nuance would not go amiss. Studies like to cite the number of extra vans on the road these days, but they forget to deduct the people who don’t travel to a shop because they placed their order online. All the same, this is an issue. One that can already partly be tackled with a greener fleet, not to mention delivery optimisation. In these digital times and with the Internet of Things, there are so many possibilities. So why not combine several orders per street? After all, surely not every delivery has to be made within 24 hours? Express deliveries could be offered for an extra fee.”

Flexibility always comes with a price tag.

Kristof De Witte: “Flexibility naturally leads us to promote the attractiveness of renting in the logistics real estate market. As a company, renting offers you many more possibilities. Which in turn generates recurring income for us. It’s a good deal for all parties involved. In the context of a business strategy, for example, it can be very interesting to think about a sale & lease back.”

Kristof De Witte: “Mobility is a very important topic. A property’s mobility assessment report can make all the difference to the property’s attractiveness. In addition, municipalities, cities, provinces and regions often hold conflicting views. This brings us back to the beginning: land and locations are scarce. So we need to adopt a very smart approach.”

Christophe Wuyts: “And smart means building on expertise, with flexibility and sustainability as the guiding principles! It should be clear that the logistics market is primarily an and/and story, not a tale of either/or. Everything has to be taken into account.”

“It’s important to cooperate with partners who have an extensive national and international network, just like Ceusters.” KDW

In 2014, Kristof De Witte became Development & Acquisitions Director at WDP (Warehouses De Pauw), where he was later promoted to General Manager for the Benelux, the Netherlands and France. WDP is a listed family business that specialises in the development and rental of logistics real estate. Over the past four decades, the company has grown to become the market leader in the Benelux.

In 2017, WDP was awarded the title of Company of the Year.

Christophe Wuyts is head of the Industrial Agency at CEUSTERS, Board Member of SIOR* Europe and Belgian representative for IRELS**

* SIOR, the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors, headquartered in Washington, DC is active in 32 countries and is recognised as the leading professional commercial and industrial real estate association.

** IRELS, the only international network of independent professionals specialising in the Logistics real estate sector.

Built-to-suit development by French-Belgian partnership

Laurent Sabatucci has been Associate Director of EOL since 2000. EOL is a French broker that specialises in logistics real estate. Like Ceusters, EOL forms part of the European IRELS network that operates in 12 countries. Ceusters is the go-to Belgian partner when international questions arise about real estate within this network. “When Carrefour contacted us about the construction of a production and distribution facility in Belgium replacing the outdated pastry factory of subsidiary Eclair, we approached Ceusters,” Laurent Sabatucci explains. “Ceusters proved to be a very valuable partner, both for us at EOL and for Carrefour. Thanks to its database and knowledge of the local market, they were able to very quickly carry out a full screening of the market and provide a comprehensive overview of possible sites. Ceusters even drew up a map of all the sites available for logistics, as well as the sites that could be converted to that purpose. They were also able to quickly and thoroughly benchmark the final deal.” This ultimately resulted in a deal between Carrefour and MG Real Estate for the construction of a project of approx. 17,000 sqm in Ternat, Forty Park.

We also asked Laurent Sabatucci about the two major themes discussed throughout this magazine: flexibility and sustainability. “I’m mainly seeing flexibility in the design of our buildings. We’re providing more and more mezzanines, for example, for the preparation of orders – which rapidly increased during the pandemic, by the way. In France, for example, e-commerce has doubled since Covid-19 emerged. Almost three times more logistical area is required; this calls for the ability to switch in a fast and flexible manner. Precisely because the supply itself is not sufficient. The demand for more logistics space is at odds with the call for a clampdown on the construction of large logistics hubs in certain regions. For this reason, we’ve entered into an environmental charter within our sector. After all, the future lies in sustainability.”

SUPER warehouses in Belgium

The Belgian logistics sector is booming.

An estimated 1.2 million square meters of new built warehouses will be added the next 18 months. What’s striking is that the warehouses are becoming larger, more sophisticated, and more diverse, so-called super warehouses. Other observation: rents keep rising. You currently pay 58 euros per square meter for a warehouse in a prime location near Brussels, which is an absolute record. The reason? Even during this COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for storage space remains extremely high and will increase further due to growing e-commerce. A record breaking three million+ square meters of new, 30,000+ square meter logistics warehouses were built between 2013 and 2021. That’s equivalent to 443 football fields, or 1,250 square meters per day. This number is only expected to increase in the coming years.

This year, already about 850,000 square meters of new warehouses in Belgium are in development. Even more logistics space will come on the market in 2022. The increasing demand for such warehouses is a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that we are all ordering more online. Shops and businesses are obliged to build up more strategic stocks. E-commerce is flourishing like never before and the demand for storage capacity is very high. For many companies, online sales proved to be the lifeline during the lockdown. This will continue in the coming years. There’s still space for development in Belgium, especially in the provinces of Limburg and Liège, which are cheaper than Antwerp or East Flanders. The Netherlands has been on the radar for years, but the market for new large logistics centers is shifting to Belgium right now.

Not only were more distribution centers added, but they also became larger, more sophisticated, and more diverse. More than 40 of these so called “mega distribution-centers,” or “super warehouses,” have popped up in Flanders. A good example is the Heylen Warehouses logistics hub of 150,000 square near Ghent or the 200,000 square meters logistics park Genk Green Logistics. There are more of that order of magnitude in the pipeline.

The warehouses are getting bigger and bigger because logistics are increasingly evolving. Today, we see more automation or handling by robots. For example, a large two-story distribution center will be built near Brussels. The Port of Antwerp-Bruges and East-Flanders, with North Sea Port, are doing particularly well. About half of all warehouses were built in these provinces, while some were built

“Every day, 1,250m2 of warehouse space is added in Belgium.”

Christophe Wuyts

MRICS SIOR

GHENT LOGISTIC CAMPUS (HEYLEN WAREHOUSES)

on the border with Brussels. In 2019, for the first time ever, Belgian take-up rose to more than two million square meters of warehouses and in the first semester of 2021 the take-up was even 55 % more than in the first semester of 2020.

The consequences of this boom on the warehousing market can be seen clearly. Barely 0.60% of all warehouses in Belgium are currently not is use. This is a historical low level of vacancy, making Belgium a leader in Europe as the immediately available space has been leased in record time. There is an acute shortage of available space in all markets. As a result, prices— which remained at the same level year after year—are beginning to rise slightly. Today, the average headline rent is 43 euros per square meter; in 2018 and 2017, it was 42 and 41 euros respectively. In 2021 it has risen to the highest (prime) rent Belgium has ever seen, at 58 euros per square meter in Brussels.

be needed because of e-commerce and—due to COVID-19—more just-incase supply chains, but also our most strategic location remains important. Rents in the Netherlands are 20% higher on average and land prices have also risen enormously. Belgium can better position itself as a cost-efficient alternative in this respect. Logistics providers that want to establish or grow in Europe should therefore consider Belgium. Moreover, they have a hard time finding employees in our neighboring country, the Netherlands. Lastly, real estate experts say that Brexit accelerated our market. When the UK became an external market, businesses needed a hub within the single European market. Belgium makes for an interesting gateway, partly because of the presence of the European institutions, which is believed to give our market an extra boost.

For years, Belgium lost large warehouses—and therefore income and employment—to the Netherlands, due to better regulation of night work. But that time is gradually coming to an end. That Belgium will play a key role for logistics in Europe in the coming years is fate. Not only will more stocks

“Belgian (prime) rent prices are at an all-time high.”

Christophe Wuyts

Head of the Industrial Agency at CEUSTERS - MRICS SIOR

The investment properties of today... and tomorrow

Is residential property still the Holy Grail of investments? Or are other opportunities becoming increasingly interesting these days? How attractive are offices, retail or (semi-) industrial real estate as an investment? Will objectives shift as a new generation of investors takes over? In short, what are the most interesting investment properties of today and tomorrow? Vincent Gommers and Christophe Ide provide the answers to these and other questions.

Christophe Ide, who left the notarial profession to join Ceusters’ Industrial Agency department three years ago, chairs the company’s Investment & Development team. The team unites the heads of the Retail, Offices, Industrial Agency and Valuation & Advisory departments, together with COO Axel Ceusters and CEO Ingrid Ceusters. “The growing demand for investment and development properties as well as clients/customers’ increasing need for assistance made it clear that a new dynamic and a coordinated structure was needed,” Christophe Ide explains. Vincent Gommers nods in agreement: “I don’t act as a broker myself. As the Head of the Valuation & Advisory department, I am responsible for delivering valuation reports to our clients and providing them with strategic advice in relation to their purchases or sales and the optimisation of their real estate portfolios. I support the Investment & Development department, which is headed by Christophe, with financial/tax advice and market data,” Vincent Gommers explains. “Of course, this isn’t new to the company, but historically investment and development cases were spread over different departments, whereas today they are centralised under the care of Christophe and the experienced team, so we can optimally assist our clients with all their real estate challenges, regardless of the asset class. Together with the extensive market knowledge of our colleagues, this forms a strong basis for providing sellers and investors with advice.”

How do you explain the increased demand for investment properties?

Christophe Ide: “The greater demand for these properties undoubtedly ensues from the current favourable borrowing climate. Although you would think that the COVID crisis might have reduced interest in office or retail portfolios, we’re still seeing a lot of activity in these segments too. The way the market looks right now, high-quality properties can still be found in every asset class. Ceusters manages transactions within the hotel segment, for example, and we’re also active in healthcare real estate, always in line with the requirements of our clients – operators, developers and investors alike –each of whom we support based on their own needs. Moreover, subject to triple net agreements, solid returns can still be achieved in these two segments. With regards to the office market in particular, we’ve been seeing increasing interest in investment properties in and around major cities such as Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent for some time now. Analysts of the brokerage firm Barclays recently published that they consider the Brussels office market to be more resiliant to the impact of teleworking than global cities such as London and Paris. Perceptive investors therefore rightly continue to consider our capital as a stable market, which, by extension, actually also applies to the office market in the other larger cities in our country.”

Vincent Gommers: “COVID is naturally confronting us with (rental) price corrections in various (sub-)markets, as well as shifts in the demands and concerns of our clients, but generally speaking, all commercial property segments still offer great opportunities for anyone looking to develop a high-performance, diversified investment portfolio.”

Christophe Ide: “The pandemic has made things particularly busy on the residential side, which of course puts pressure on yields. This has undeniably led to residential investors also becoming more open to professional real estate – from retail and office to (semi-)industrial opportunities – they previously might have shown less interest in.”

Vincent Gommers: “Individual apartments and typical residential investment properties (usually three to six apartments) are always sought after in the market. But as these are under constant pressure from competition from owner-occupiers on the one hand and private investors on the other hand, returns on these properties have become relatively low. That’s why investors today are looking for new opportunities, which makes commercial property an ideal addition to their portfolio.”

With a view to improving returns, is it a good idea to diversify a portfolio these days?

Vincent Gommers: “That’s precisely where our role lies: providing our clients with the best possible advice, tailored to their individual situation. How to get the best return from your property portfolio (and by extension your capital) in the longer term is a common question. The answer will be different for each investor, depending on their profile. It’s perfectly possible, for example, to strategically decide to make a nice profit from the sale of a residential property today, and then reinvest those funds in commercial real estate with a higher return. Stable, high-quality commercial real estate additionally often requires less active management. In these hectic times, not having to deal with much of that hassle is also attracting more property investors.”

Christophe Ide: “We welcome both relatively modest investment portfolios of private individuals and the so-called ‘big gun’ funds. Our aim is to genuinely build a sustainable, long-term

relationship with our clients, which is embedded in the Ceusters DNA. Our international networks (Gerald Eve, SIOR, Tirca, Lee & Associates and IRELS) also allow us to assist foreign parties with their entry or expansion into the Belgian market and to assist our Belgian clients with their foreign real estate activities.”

Vincent Gommers: “Regardless of the size of the investment portfolio, every client is offered expert advice from Ceusters. We’re proud of our high level of accessibility, but – just as in the financial world – we naturally also guarantee discretion, a characteristic that’s particularly appreciated by many of our clients, who include company owners, family offices and other wealthy individuals.”

Christophe Ide: Investing in high-quality, rented semi-industrial/logistics real estate has the advantage that it requires limited owner maintenance and can offer certain guarantees with regard to the term of the contract, within a B2B environment… In short, it’s a reasonably ‘hassle-free’ investment.

Vincent Gommers: “That’s right. We note that many business parks and multi-tenant SME-sites sell out quickly. These sites serve as lively hubs for local companies, but often also house the regional offices of larger service providers and multinationals. This makes them very popular with both owner-users and investors. Thanks to the different purposes they serve (storage/workshop, warehouse with offices or just offices), there’s usually also ‘something for everyone’, with different options depending on the client’s budget and wishes. These developments therefore appeal to private investors and large funds alike. In order to further unburden our clients, Ceusters can also take on the management of these assets, for owners and in co-ownership. This allows an investor to create and diversify a portfolio with our support, carefree.”

Christophe Ide Senior consultant at Ceusters

Vincent Gommers Head of Valuation & Advisory at Ceusters - MRICS

Christophe Ide: “In the context of the healthy diversification of investment portfolios, we’re also noticing continued interest in the other segments of the market. There are four important initial parameters for identifying a potential investment in rented retail, office and (semi-) industrial real estate: location, lease, tenant and the property’s state of maintenance. However, these aspects are often interconnected. For example, a prominent location could mean that a less favourable state of maintenance is less relevant. Alternatively, a perfectly equipped building can sometimes compensate for a (slightly) less favourable location. A solid tenant can also make a property particularly interesting, as can a long-term lease, even if the location is not perceived as ‘prime’ (within the market). Our services allow us to match a rapidly increasing number of investors with properties that are right for them, in line with their profile and expectations.”

Today, with great appetite for residential property, price levels may drive more people to the rental market. Will this have an effect on investments in this segment?

Vincent Gommers: “Traditionally, Belgium has been a nation of buyers. However, precisely because residential property prices are rising so sharply, we can say with some caution that there are indeed (initial) signs of a shift towards the rental market. After all, the affordability of quality housing has come under increasing pressure. We therefore note that various parties are currently raising capital and setting up funds that focus on the residential rental market. They are already responding to this shift with the aim of providing a high-quality solution to this (future) growing demand. Their initial focus is on larger cities, where demand already exists today.”

Christophe Ide: “In this way, these funds are also responding to an emotional shift. Younger generations clearly feel less attached to having ‘their own home’ than past generations did. People tend to move around, depending on their relationship or work status. Travel will also become more frequent again, which means young people may want to be less bound to bricks and mortar and all the concerns ownership can entail – a trend that will be very clear once the pandemic is over. In short, there is greater flexibility in the living arena, which funds are responding nicely to.”

Vincent Gommers: “In neighbouring countries such as Germany, the UK and the Netherlands, this has already been the case for quite a long time. In our country, however, it’s a more recent development and the market is less mature. Our role therefore also lies in matching project developers with these funds.”

GATE 7 - KONTICH (BVI.EU)

at ION

In addition to investments, you also handle development cases. Are the same segments –residential, retail, office and industrial – also represented there?

Christophe Ide: “We guide land owners towards optimal results . We look at sites’ potential and try to valorise it. That can indeed result in retail, offices, semi-industrial or residential developments, or increasingly a variety of these uses. Moreover, Ceusters also has the necessary expertise in the hotel, healthcare and leisure segments.”

Vincent Gommers: “Demand for residential (re-)developments is particularly high these days, in line with the interest in this market which we mentioned earlier. The repurposing of run-down, inner-city office buildings that no longer meet current standards and the requirements of office users is a classic example of this. These are often converted into apartments with ground floor shops, offices or services . But large-scale former industrial sites too, for example, are increasingly being redeveloped due to the scarcity of available land.

These days, it’s impossible for anyone who pursues long-term investing goals to ignore the topic of sustainability.

Christophe Ide: “Today, people tend to refer more to ESG criteria, which stands for Environmental, Social & Governance. In concrete terms, this means that various factors are taken into account when developing a portfolio, of which energy consumption, the impact of raw materials, health and safety are only a few. It’s all about making a positive social contribution, not just a profit. These investment choices are affecting the rest of the market too. The Flemish government has also drawn up some very clear guidelines on how energy should be approached. These will be audited for both residential and non-residential real estate. In this case, the question is how investors will handle these sustainable investments when calculating returns...”

Vincent Gommers: “Property that is geared to withstand the test of time in an ever changing environment. That’s what it’s all about when you’re talking about long-term investments. Which is precisely why ESG is rightly gaining importance in investment decisions. It’s also increasingly given more attention on the financing side. Ceusters’ range of services therefore also include extensive technical analyses, for example, to allow us to serve our clients in this area too – both today and in the future.”

“It’s all about making a positive social contribution, not just a profit.” CI

“In real estate ION is active as a developer and end investor. With their market knowledge and extensive network, Ceusters manages to identify the right investment opportunities and bridging the gap between seller and buyer. Their Investment & Development team brings an important added value to the table in the preparation, structuring and commercial implementation of transactions.”

Sam Bordon - Investment Director

Ceusters joins United Nations Global Compact

The United Nations Global Compact is the world’s largest initiative in the context of corporate SDG. SDG stands for 17 Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the United Nations – the successors to the well-known Millennium Development Goals. Each SDG is linked to a series of tangible performance indicators to be achieved by 2030. ‘As an organisation, Ceusters makes a sustainable commitment and explicitly commits itself to continue to contribute to the realisation of these development objectives.’, CEO Ingrid Ceusters explains.

As a business built on family roots, Ceusters is convinced that the business world needs to join in the search for solutions to the enormous challenges our planet is facing: in terms of gender equality, good health and well-being, quality education, climate change, decent work and economic growth. ‘We have therefore embedded sustainable development into our strategic vision. This means that we explicitly place an emphasis on the long term and on responsible behaviour and that we pay constant attention to the interests of all stakeholders.’, Axel Ceusters passionately adds. The path that was mapped out also ensures the commitment of every employee within Ceusters. During dedicated (interactive) workshops, every employee gets the chance to help shape the company’s sustainability vision based on their own expertise. This allows them to define the aspects on which Ceusters can have an impact as well as their priorities.

Axel Ceusters: ‘As a strong, profitable and sustainable company, Ceusters wants to make an essential contribution to various social objectives. The company does not only want to work on the technical side of sustainability, but also strongly believes in its social impact and partnerships. The goal must not be purely to achieve financial success. Responsibility is, and always will be, a strong guiding value at Ceusters. This philosophy is fundamental to business success and enables the organisation to mitigate risk, create long-term value and earn the trust of all customers, business partners, shareholders and employees, and therefore the communities in which the organisation operates.’

The United Nations Global Compact is a strategic initiative that supports companies worldwide who are committed to corporate responsibility. For the companies, these SDGs are translated into an ESG strategy, where ESG stands for ‘environment’, ‘social’ and ‘governance’. ‘These values have been firmly ingrained in the DNA of the organisation for years. Nevertheless, Ceusters wants to intensify its efforts in the coming period, along with all its employees and partners, in order to go one step further and guarantee a bright future in the long term.’ Ingrid Ceusters concludes.

Ingrid Ceusters CEO of Ceusters - SIOR

“Sustainability is an important topic in every department. So brainstorming about it with the whole team is definitely an added value.”

Katrien Geysen, Shopping Center Manager

“Take the initiative: pay attention to others and make a difference. If you take the first step, the rest will follow. Small details create big moments.”

Sahar Ben Aissa, Assistant Portfolio Manager

“I am glad that we are taking further steps towards a sustainable development; these sessions show that there is a large basis of support amongst colleagues.”

Jeroen Lefevre, Building & Facility Manager

“The workshops are very interesting because they allow us to become aware, to innovate our way of working by getting involved in the changes that need to be made to the environment.”

Yasmina Lachhab, Consultant Retail

“SDGs provides Ceusters with the ideal framework to play a pioneering role in a sustainable transition in terms of people, ecology and innovation.”

Thomas Roux, Portfolio Manager

“These workshops have given me more insight into what the SDGs mean and how we can work on them ourselves.”

Gaëlle Verlinde, Promotion & Events Manager

“It is striking how colleagues -from the point of view of their own department or backgrounds- put forward other goals as being of primary importance.”

Hans Van Laer, Head of Marketing & Research

“For me, the SDGs are of paramount importance in the property management of tomorrow’s world.”

Julien Detaille, Senior Property Manager Co-ownership

THE CEUSTERS DNA

Is there such a thing as the Ceusters DNA? Do employees share the same values? And has that been a constant over the seven decades of the company’s existence? We talked to HR Managers Sophie Van Oers and Guy Frans. It turned into a conversation about family, flexibility and the fun factor, as well as ownership, consultation and support.

High level of personal involvement

In Ceusters’ head office on Antwerp’s Uitbreidingstraat, we meet Sophie Van Oers and Guy Frans, who both seem to be in a particularly good mood. Could it have something to do with that ‘late Friday afternoon feeling’? “We will indeed be heading to our recently renovated Club Lounge for drinks afterwards,” HR Manager Sophie Van Oers laughs. In October 2020, she doubled the size of the HR team by joining Guy Frans, who has been working at Ceusters since March 2004. Two different profiles with one shared passion: human resources. “We consider it extremely important to strengthen ties with all employees, regardless of their field of expertise. HR shouldn’t be an anonymous department: we need to be visible,” Guy Frans adds. “That’s why we regularly get together with the office staff. Sophie and I also make sure to regularly visit our colleagues in Ceusters’ branch offices. You need to be physically present and put your ear to the ground. Personal involvement is what it’s all about. That’s the constant I’ve experienced in all my years at Ceusters.” “That’s right,” Guy’s colleague Sophie confirms: “When I first started working here, I immediately noticed how easily you could walk into the office of our CEO or COOs, for example. Everything revolves around collaboration, at all times and in all places. There’s very little hierarchy, which is one of the reasons we’re able to work so flexibly. No one is locked into a fixed pattern.”

Guy Frans Finance & HR Manager at Ceusters

Sophie Van Oers HR Manager at Ceusters

Guy Frans: “The concept of ‘family’ can be interpreted in all kinds of ways, of course. Personally, I experience that family feeling through the high level of trust placed in employees here, as well as the solidarity that exists. Just like in a real family, everything has a longterm focus at Ceusters. The working environment has to be sustainable – both in a human and ecological sense. That’s why we made an explicit commitment to drastically reduce CO2 emissions, water consumption and

office waste, for example. Something we were already doing long before it became ‘sexy’, by the way. Simply because it’s a healthy way to do business. We’re also convinced that future employees will attach increasing importance to efforts like this.”

Sophie Van Oers: “We consider it important for our offices to be as green as possible, both with plants in the office and with the necessary green space outside. It creates a sense of mental peace and invites movement. Similarly, having art on the walls leads to mental expansion, as it were. Combine that with a Sports Challenge,

Immorun race for real estate professionals or cocktail shaker workshop – together with engagement in social projects – and you have a sustainable working environment that always provides the necessary oxygen.”

Guy Frans: “A pleasant working environment that supports strong collaboration is the reason why so many initiatives emerge here without anyone directing them from above. During the lockdown, we noticed that we missed each other very much. This certainly shows things aren’t that clinical here in the office.” (laughs)

Does this personal involvement stem from the company’s familial nature?

Local and horizontal

Ceusters has about a hundred employees who are spread out across various locations. Doesn’t that make it difficult to create a shared ‘Ceusters feeling’?

Guy Frans: “Our local presence is fantastic for our clients, but it’s also very nice for employees themselves. Why waste hours in traffic when you could be at work in no time? And get back to your family just as fast afterwards? It makes people work more efficiently, and it makes them happier.”

Sophie Van Oers: “Especially for young parents, this isn’t an unnecessary luxury. We actually picked our branch locations together with our employees. Work-life balance really isn’t just an empty concept at Ceusters. Proximity applies not only to our connection with clients, but also to our employees. The way we work together mirrors how we deal with our clients.”

Guy Frans: “Despite the fact that we work in different offices, there’s still a shared Ceusters DNA. But in order to create that ‘community’ feeling, you

naturally need to be present everywhere on a regular basis. Although we’ve partly grown organically, there have also been acquisitions and mergers. Which is why it’s important to get to know each other well and ensure everyone feels good in the large Ceusters community. It’s essential to invest the necessary time in this. I can safely say that human resources have become increasingly important for our organisation over the years. Of course, Ceusters is literally connected through the family DNA of Ms (Ingrid) Ceusters and her son Axel. But all employees also figuratively contribute to that DNA.”

Guy Frans: “Trust only functions if it works in all directions. An open and horizontal way of collaborating makes swift decisions possible. It’s all about ownership, consultation and support. Those values are what makes us stand out from our competitors. We need to feel like someone fits in with that philosophy. Hire for attitude, train for skills, as we say. All our employees get the opportunity to take relevant training courses. Which means your own career at Ceusters can take different turns. And if people do decide they want a change, you want them to have had a really good time here, right? Who knows, we might be working together on a subsequent project in their new position and company… This too ties in with our long-term philosophy.”

Sophie Van Oers: “Ceusters has a high retention rate. Our employees are not just anonymous numbers on a spreadsheet. The company is built on strong individuals who form a close-knit team in a highly diversified workplace. Age and gender don’t play any role in that.”

Sophie Van Oers: “The point is that everyone should be able to develop professionally in the best possible way. Supporting lifelong learning is how you ‘stay in shape’ as a company. No matter which way you look at it, your people are your most important assets. And the way in which our people work together also reflects how we deal with our clients.”

Which profiles are you looking for, apart from the right skills?

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