Antwerp real estate developer Triple Living has unveiled a new housing project for the former site of the KBC building in Brussels’ Tour & Taxis area, La Libre Belgique reports. The developer has already begun to market apartments in the new buildings.
Following the success of residential projects around the trendy redevelopment of the Tour & Taxis area – including projects such as the Upsite Tower, Tivoli GreenCity district, Riva, Canal Wharf, and others – “The Banks” will occupy the site of the former KBC Green Island building, converting it into new waterfront accommodation.
The Green Island building was first built in 2000 by Assar Architects and housed offices of the Belgian bank. Demolition work on the current site has been underway since October 2022 and planning permission has already been granted for the new The Banks site.
Credit: Pascal Smet
The project name, “The Banks”, refers both to the former location of the KBC bank building as well as its proximity to the banks of the Brussels Canal. The plans envisage a mixed living space of three towers including 216 housing units, including studios and up to three-bedroom apartments. 16 three-bedroom duplexes will benefit from private entrances.
3,800 metres squared of offices, a creche, a brasserie, two multipurpose spaces, a hotel, and an underground carpark with 200 spaces are also planned.
“The hotel will occupy the ground floor and six floors of the first tower, the rest being apartments,” Manu Cornette, project manager, told La Libre Belgique. “The second tower will be almost entirely residential, apart from the creche at the foot of the building. Finally, the third tower will include a shop on the ground floor, three floors of offices, and housing.”
Credit: Pascal Smet
The 16 duplexes and the two multipurpose spaces will form a fourth, low and elongated building, above which a green space will cover the length of the building. As part of plans to bring more plants and trees to the Brussels Canal area, the green space will expand onto the back of the canal up to nearby rue Le Lorrain.
The developers assure that the green patio space will be open to the public and can be traversed by local residents and passers-by. Each property at the new development will benefit from outdoor spaces, the developer insists. Depending on the property, this will include a balcony, veranda, winter garden, view of the patio, the canal, or the upcoming Béco park.
Construction on the new site is set to begin in August this year. Outdoor spaces will be built by architect Bas Smets, who also designed the surroundings of the nearby Tour & Taxis park. The cost of a new apartment will start at €245,000 and marketing for the properties began on Monday. The units are expected to be completed by August 2025. Work on the third and final tower will be carried out in a second phase of construction, 2.5 years later.
“We are currently in negotiations with the future operator of the hotel, but we prefer not to say more for the moment,” Cornette concluded.
