New Tour & Taxis development under fire from locals

A large-scale housing project in Brussels' Tour & Taxis neighbourhood is facing increasing opposition from locals, who say it is “disconnected from reality”.

The public inquiry to approve a building permit for real estate developer Nextensa’s new Lake Side large-scale housing project closed last week.

Lake Side comprises 16 tall buildings for housing, offices and shops to allow 800 housing units, set in some 96,000m² of parkland. The centrepiece is a 127-metre residential tower with more than 700 apartments, which could also house the future Proximus offices.

The project will be built between the park and the Brussels Environment building. Nextensa, which operates in Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria, said that 24% of the apartments will be part of an affordable housing scheme, with an additional 61 social housing units created.

But citizen action group BRAL, along with Molenbeek’s local Bonnevie committee and Inter-Environnement Bruxelles (IEB), the association bringing together Brussels residents campaigning on urban, ecological and social issues, question that these units will ever be built.

Concerns have spurred the creation of an online petition, to date numbering more than 3,200 signatures, from Maritime District Committee (MDC) residents, opposing the building of 16 additional towers.

“Maritime district residents and users were not involved in the plans for this project,” say the residents who demand “accommodation for all”.

“Lake Side is not rooted in the district at all and does not take its reality into account. It also does not offer a concrete answer to the affordable housing crisis.”

In short, the petition asks for “a city on a human scale, with lower buildings and less density; affordable housing and social housing; concerted mobility; more consultation with citizens on large-scale projects before the public enquiry stage; and the preservation and diversity of green spaces”.

BRAL is not convinced any social housing will be provided at Tour & Taxis, adding: “And anyone who dares to claim that a quarter of homes on this site will be affordable, has a very broad definition of the term.”

It noted that social housing units were also promised for the Park Lane project, with the government given an "offer" to buy them. But as there was no budget, the units were never built, BRAL said, calling the 24% figure for Lake Side “extremely misleading”.

The Brussels regional government’s Special Zoning Plan (BBP), introduced in 2017, lays down few requirements for affordable housing and allows for enormous builds, BRAL said, which “gives the developer a huge gift”.

One Molenbeek resident told RTBF: “It’s good that we’re making housing denser, but at the same time, it’s very expensive.” Another local said that the new development was very ugly and would mean less visitors to the site.

Zoé Medard, who runs and walks her dog in the park regularly, told RTBF that it was unfortunate that “16 more towers means less space for relaxation”. Part of a local action group opposing the development, she said that the project was not conceived with the people living nearby in mind.

Félicien Dufoor, responsible for housing at Molenbeek’s Bonnevie community centre, said the project appeared to be "destined for investment and speculators".

"What our residents need above all is affordable, large-scale housing for families too. They are the ones who are having the hardest time finding homes at the moment."

Nextensa,which calls itself a “next generation real estate investor and developer” aiming for “sustainable urban development with a positive impact,” insisted that the future homes are “accessible” and that there will be “a huge amount of infrastructure for everyone”.

“One quarter of the homes are planned as accessible housing, including 60 social housing units and over 110 subsidised units,” said customer adviser Charlotte Schreuer. “We have always been open to discussion, so people are welcome to come and talk to us.”

An important consultation committee meeting on the development, open to all, will take place on 18 March at Brussels’ urban development headquarters on Rue du Marché aux Herbes.