Uplace Machelen on the home straight

• Mobility issue resolved
• 50 % of surface area already let
• Opening scheduled for 2018

During a press conference held on the site in Machelen today, chairman Bart Verhaeghe and CEO Jan Van Lancker explained the current position of the innovative Uplace project. In the past few months, major steps have been taken that put Uplace in a stronger position than ever. The concerns about mobility have been overcome and more than 50 % of the surface area has already been let under binding contracts to very strong parties. All these parties are coming to Uplace Machelen with their very latest experience concept. Uplace is delighted that its unique project in Machelen is now on the home straight towards becoming a reality.

Commercially, the project is running like clockwork

Uplace is a world of experiences under one roof, a one-stop relaxation destination where the whole family can enjoy a great day out. As well as shopping in 300 experience stores, you can sample the tastes of the world in more than 50 restaurants, go to the cinema or the theatre, do sport, benefit from wellness facilities, absorb culture, attend all sorts of events, stay overnight or quite simply meet and enjoy spending time together. Uplace brings together in one place everything that people like to do in their free time: 190,000 m² of pure experience. Even now, a few years before the opening, this totally new real-estate concept is already a great success. Over the past year, Uplace has taken a great stride forwards in letting the available surfaces. Uplace is proud to announce that 50 % has already been let under binding contracts to real crowd-pullers in the retail landscape, including six INDITEX brands (Zara – Pull&Bear – Bershka – Massimo Dutti – Oysho – Zara Home), Mango, Claudia Sträter, Tommy Hilfiger, Talking French, Verso by Fashion Club 70, Scotch&Soda and others. All these brands will come to Uplace with their unique experience-based concept so that they fit in perfectly with the experience destination that Uplace is to be. But not only retailers are confirming their arrival. Belga Films is to open a modern, ten-screen cinema complex here. For the 3,000-seat theatre - the perfect response to the great demand for cultural space in the Noordrand, the northern edge of Brussels - far-reaching talks are underway with a renowned American entertainment group that will bring in artists of local and international fame. 

To complete the story, businesses are also showing an interest in the exceptional working conditions that Uplace will be offering in the various office buildings and iconic office tower. Easily accessible by public transport (train, tram and bus), located within a stone’s throw of the centre of Brussels, at the intersection of a number of major motorways and close to Brussels International Airport, Uplace offers office space that every employee dreams of. The prospect of working in environmentally friendly buildings of outstanding architectural quality, and with facilities on the doorstep enabling people to take care of their daily shopping, do sport at lunchtime and to go out to eat or to the cinema in the evening, or to arrange accommodation for guests in a trendy hotel with 180 rooms, has already attracted a number of businesses.

Uplace is bringing what everyone is waiting for

For many people, Uplace is a project they are eagerly looking forward to. Everyone, young and old, families or singles, is enthusiastic about the totally new type of amusement that Uplace will offer. The residents of the Noordrand, a region with one of the highest unemployment figures in Flanders, deserve a place like Uplace because it will create new jobs and a bustling new economy. After the closure of Renault, DHL, Sabena, etc., there is an urgent need for new and permanent employment and economic activity in this region. Uplace is providing 3,000 jobs during the construction phase, and once it opens, will create 3,180 permanent positions.

Thanks to Uplace, the polluted soil of the 11-hectare site at the Vilvoorde viaduct has already been fully cleaned up. This represents an investment of EUR 5 million. With the reconversion of this piece of industrial waste land to create an innovation pool and a new, beating heart for Flanders, Uplace will respond to an imperative call from the Flemish Government for economic growth. Sir Edward Lister, right-hand man of London mayor Boris Johnson, explained during the press conference that major reconversion projects can create absolute added value for a region and transform a desolate urban area into a meaningful and sustainable place. Boris Johnson himself said of the similar Westfield Stratford project that it is “the best regeneration project for London since the Middle Ages”.

Developed into a cast-iron project

By listening to a number of concerns expressed by those who fulfil a social role, Uplace has evolved and emerged as a very strong project. The opinion from the Gewestelijke Milieuvergunningscommissie (GMVC – Regional Environmental Permit Commission), the highest administrative body for environmental issues in Flanders, is a milestone here. They recognise the great steps that have been taken over the past few years as regards opening up the area, both in terms of public transport and as regards accessibility by car. The GMVC believes that thanks to these additional efforts, the mobility problem has certainly been overcome.  

A great deal of progress has indeed been made in various areas since 2012. First of all, a lot of work is being done on various main arteries in the region, for which Uplace served as a catalyst and for which all permits have already been granted: the Woluwelaan is being totally redeveloped, the set of junctions of the E19 motorway and Brussels ring road will come into use and the commune is working hard on many of the streets in Machelen. In addition, planned investments in public transport will contribute towards opening up the entire Noordrand area. A GEN station (Gewestelijk Expresnet – regional express network) will be built 150 m from the Uplace site and Uplace has concluded an agreement with the Flemish public transport company, De Lijn, to lay on a shuttle bus that will run alongside the project. This bus will carry visitors to and from Vilvoorde station and Brussels International Airport. What is more, De Lijn is currently establishing a tram connection between Jette and Zaventem with a tram stop right in front of Uplace.

Opening 2018

Uplace is convinced that thanks to the positive steps taken over the past few months, the project will be fully permitted in the course of 2015. The first brick is then to be laid in the course of 2016. The construction phase is estimated at two years. The official opening of this unique experience destination is therefore scheduled in the course of 2018.

About Uplace NV

Uplace is an innovative real-estate group specialising in the development of, investment in and management of experience destinations. Uplace consists of experienced professionals with in-depth international expertise in the field of real-estate development and investment