2 minute read
Introduction
ION keeps innovating
The ION Residential Platform is the showpiece of 2021. This joint-venture challenge bodes well for a successful future for the Belgian rental market.
From left to right: Paul Thiers (Chairman and Co-founder), Davy Demuynck (CEO and Co-founder), and Kristof Vanfleteren (CEO and Co-founder).
— A bumper year for ION Our lives have been ruled by the corona pandemic for over a year now. Still, we kept up our team spirits because, after all, fun is in our DNA. We kept looking to the future and were able to secure some exciting projects.
In terms of business, ION actually had a bumper year. Without a doubt, one of our greatest successes is the renovation of Antwerp’s iconic Boerentoren (“Farmer’s Tower”). We are embracing this challenge together with Katoen Natie Groep and will be converting the former KBC building into a unique culture tower. We are revealing some of the details in an interview with Fernand Huts now, but we will certainly come back to this later in the year.
Of course, the Boerentoren is not our only project. Other projects include Burenberg in Leuven, HaZee in Ostend, and Suikerpark in Veurne, three great examples of putting sustainability first through innovative techniques and smart designs. With these projects, we demonstrate that the environment is at least as important as the architecture.
— Innovation, growth, and commitment We have also been very active in terms of innovation. ION Residential Platform is the first institutional housing platform in Belgium to make long-term investments in the residential rental market. We sensed that the time had come to introduce this type of entrepreneurship in Belgium. We are fully committed to this joint venture together with Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors, and CBRE Global Investment Partners.
It is clear that our ambitions are continuing to grow. Consequently, we are taking on more employees, which requires more office space. In addition, we are crossing the Flemish border and are setting up in Wallonia as well! Pierre Gielen, 100th employee and Business Manager for Wallonia, tells us more.
Our own successes allowed us to give the cultural sector a boost by supporting “The Spring Sessions.” For this online series of concerts, Jef Neve invites a Belgian guest for each concert and puts on a fantastic music show. You can read in an interview in this magazine what the Flemish composer thinks about culture post corona.
— Looking towards the future Just like Jef Neve, we are very much looking forward to a future where more will be possible, even if it no longer seems that far away. We trust this magazine will inspire and motivate you to keep going!
Davy Demuynck and Kristof Vanfleteren
CEOs and Co-founders
Paul Thiers
Chairman and Co-founder
