Quality of Place
We offer affordable spaces
In a few months, Blue Gate Antwerp will welcome its first occupants. The brand new, eco-effective and water-bound redeveloped brownfield is exemplary for the ambitions of the city in catering for modern industries. Here, sustainable production facilities and state-of-the-art R&D departments will find their natural home.
The recent growth of Antwerp has also created an immense array of available office spaces, ranging from old industrial buildings to new developments, both in the heart of the city or at its outer borders.
Plenty of office space
There are 1.7 million m2 of office space in the City of Antwerp, and so there are plenty of offices. The upper rental limits in the centre is 145 euros/m²/year.
| Parameter |
Value |
|---|
| Stock |
1 742 881 m² |
| Vacancy |
197 087 m² |
| Prime rent |
145 EUR / m² / year |
Source: Jones Lang Lasalle
Office space is cheaper in Antwerp than that of comparable quality in the major commercial centres in neighbouring countries. This is evident from standardised figures that include both maintenance costs and taxes. Total office space costs in Antwerp amount to around 166 euros/m²/year.
Office rental prices
Prime rents for office space in EUR/m²/year in Q4 2015
| City |
Occupancy cost |
|---|
| London (West End) |
1 376 |
| London (City) |
838 |
| Paris (CBD) |
800 |
| Paris (La Défense) |
540 |
| Manchester |
410 |
| Edinburgh |
404 |
| Frankfurt (CBD) |
480 |
| Birmingham |
404 |
| Glasgow |
361 |
| Munich (CBD) |
426 |
| Amsterdam (Sout Axis) |
425 |
| Dusseldorf (CBD) |
318 |
| Brussels (EU Leopold) |
285 |
| Lyon |
300 |
| Marseille |
260 |
| The Hague |
210 |
| Hamburg (CBD) |
306 |
| Eindhoven |
160 |
| Antwerp |
155 |
Source: Cushman & Wakefield, Office snapshot Q3 2017 (11/2017)
Discover the available office hubs in Antwerp
Industrial space
There are 752 hectares of land in the City of Antwerp that are developed or have development potential for industry and logistics. Over 56 hectares of that is unused and unallocated. The upper rental limit for industry is 43-48 euros/m²/year, while for logistics the upper rental limit stands at 46 euros/m²/year.
Industrial space in Antwerp in 2014
| Parameter |
Value |
|---|
| Total surface area |
752.22 ha |
| Unused unspend |
56.80 ha |
| Prime rent industry |
43-48 EUR / m² / year |
| Prime rent logistics |
46 EUR / m² / year |
Source: Arcadis and Jones Lang Lasalle, 2014
Occupancy cost
Cushman & Wakefield splits up the industrial rents for Belgium and France into those for logistic locations and those for manufacturing locations. For the other countries, only industrial rents are given for the logistic locations and no further splitting is done.
Industrial rents for logistic locations in EUR/m²/year in Q3 2017
| City |
Occupancy cost |
|---|
| London (Heathrow) |
183 |
| Bristol |
98 |
| Birmingham |
83 |
| Edinburgh |
98 |
| Schiphol |
87,5 |
| Frankfurt |
72 |
| Cologne |
60 |
| Rotterdam |
62.5 |
| Eindhoven |
52,5 |
| Antwerp |
46 |
Source: Cushman & Wakefield, Industrial snapshot Q3 2017 (11/2017)
Industrial rents for manufacturing locations in EUR/m²/year in Q3 2017
| City |
Occupancy cost |
|---|
| Paris |
125 |
| Lyon |
80 |
| Strasbourg |
80 |
| Bordeaux |
75 |
| Marseille |
70 |
| Lille |
70 |
| Toulouse |
65 |
| Brussels |
57,5 |
| Antwerp |
56 |
| Ghent |
44 |
Source: Cushman & Wakefield, Industrial snapshot Q3 2017 (11/2017)
Development areas
Blue Gate Antwerp
Blue Gate Antwerp is a brownfield of 103 hectares in the southwest of Antwerp that is being redeveloped into a high-quality waterfront and eco-effective business area. Blue Gate Antwerp offers space to innovative production companies, waterway-linked logistics companies and research and development, and is fully committed to the circular economy.
Blue Gate Antwerp wants to be CO2-neutral. The prevention or recycling of waste, the maximum and integral closing of material cycles, the use of renewable energy, the focus on green products… are all essential characteristics of the site.
Churchill Industrial Zone
The site is ideal for the development of a large-scale circular economy project. Within the port area the site is one of the few large remaining areas in the centre of Antwerp's industrial cluster.
The Antwerp Port Authority is offering an attractive industrial investment opportunity in the heart of Europe's main integrated industrial, maritime and logistics platform. The site is an ideal base for high-tech waste treatment. The project area is immediately available.
Saeftinghe Development Area
Saeftinghe Development Area, the northern expansion of the port on the Left Bank, comprises an area of approx. 1070 ha which will be developed for maritime, industrial and logistics activities. The construction of a tidal container dock is also planned here.
Logistic Park Schijns
The port is developing areas on both the Left bank and the Right bank for specific logistics activities with multimodal access. The Spatial Structural Plan for Flanders has pencilled in the development of two logistics area: The Logistics Park Waasland (left bank) and the Logistics Park Schijns (right bank)).
Retail space
There are over a million square meters of retail space in the City of Antwerp (excluding the hospitality industry and services). Frictional vacancy amounts to some 85 000 m², which means that there is ready availability for new investors.
Three-quarters of the retail space is located in shopping areas.
The top rental prices for retail space are in the centre of Antwerp around the Meir and Schuttershofstraat (1 750 euro/m² on average). Outside of the centre (Nationalestraat, Abdijstraat) the rental prices are much lower (300 euro/m² on average).
Prime rent prices "main streets" city of Antwerp in EUR/m²/year
| Street |
Occupancy cost |
|---|
| Meir |
1 850 |
| Schuttershofstraat |
1 800 |
| Huidevettersstraat |
1 600 |
| Wilde Zee |
1 000 |
| Nationalsestraat |
650 |
| Kammenstraat |
450 |
| Abdijstraat |
300 |
Source: Jones Lang Lasalle
Prime rents for retail in EUR/m²/year in Q3 2017
| City |
Occupancy cost |
|---|
| London (West End) |
16 146 |
| Paris |
13 255 |
| Berlin |
3780 |
| Munich |
4 440 |
| Frankfurt |
3 780 |
| Hamburg |
3 720 |
| Cologne |
3 540 |
| Dusseldorf |
3 420 |
| Amsterdam |
3 000 |
| Glasgow |
2 607 |
| Antwerp |
1 950 |
| Brussels |
1 850 |
| Lyon |
1841 |
| Edinburgh |
1 808 |
| Manchester |
1 747 |
| Rotterdam |
1 600 |
| Maastricht |
1 600 |
| Lille |
1 326 |
| The Hague |
1 250 |
Source: Cushman & Wakefield, Retail snapshot Q3 2017 (11/2017)
Affordable housing market
The cost of living in Belgium is lower than that of its neighbouring countries. The cost contains the average rent for housing as well as the cost for water, electricity and gas. The price comparison is shown with the average cost for the EU at 100. (source: Eurostat 2018)
Apr 10, 2019
In 2020 BlueChem is opening its doors in eco-effective business park Blue Gate Antwerp. The incubator will offer a place to around fifteen young firms and SMEs which focus on sustainable chemistry. After Houston, Antwerp has the largest cluster of chemical firms in the world. The proximity of the Port of Antwerp, the central location in Europe and the large availability of expertise in chemistry in Flanders makes the old Petroleum South an ideal location for BlueChem.
Mar 29, 2019
The Energy Observer was docked in the Port of Antwerp from 21 to 29 March 2019. The Energy Observer is the first vessel in the world running on hydrogen, generated from seawater and produced using the energy extracted from 130 m² of solar panels and 2 wind turbines. This is the perfect chance for the Port of Antwerp to highlight energy transition over these nine days.
Jan 8, 2019
The city of Antwerp has a strong track record in fostering innovation, creating the ideal business climate for tech and creative startups. This has not gone unnoticed by UK magazine Courier who recently published a full article on 'Why set up a business in Antwerp?'
