Permission has been granted for a new 90-metre-high residential tower to be built in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Ans Persoons, Brussels Secretary of State for Urban Planning and Heritage, confirmed on Monday.
The skyscraper will be built on an abandoned area located between Charles Quint Avenue and Zellik Road. It will feature 164 residential units, from studios to four-bedroom apartments spread across 28 floors.
It will be a “new symbolic landmark” at the city’s northern gateway for motorists coming from Ghent, Persoons said. “In some parts of Brussels, we must build upwards, and this site is one such place,” she stressed.
“We must continue providing housing in the capital to maintain affordable rent prices and allow many individuals to live in the city,” the Secretary of State added. The slender tower, whose developer will be the Life Tree group, will become a recognised “urban beacon,” she said.
By repurposing an abandoned urban area into residential and commercial space, “the ‘Porta Agatha’ tower will breathe new life into this district and present a welcoming image at the entrance to Brussels, while fostering local economic development,” said Christian Lamouline, Mayor of Berchem-Sainte-Agathe.
He views the project as a “unique opportunity” that should integrate into the broad-based rethink of the revitalisation of the communal train station neighbourhood.
