BELVEDERE MAASTRICHT

[BIZ: Maastricht, December 20]
Covering almost 700 acres (280 ha), one fifth of the area of the city, the Belvédère project will represent a gross investment figure, approaching EUR 3bn and take a generation (21 years) to complete. Belvédère in Italian literally means beautiful view, but it seems to cover a wide variety of buildings and locations, so that it is an entirely fitting designation for what is to be Maastricht’s biggest ongoing construction project.

The project has been 7 years on the drawing board and now it’s ready for take-off. It completes the city to the north, with its historic industrial quarter, its green heights – once the edge of Maastricht’s fortifications - looking down on the water and the town. There is a park-like area too; tree lined avenues and always the harbor and the waterways - cross-sectioned by buildings old and new.

In figures, this means 4,000 housing units with a sale/rental ratio of 70% – 30%; 100,000 m of office space – downtown; 60,000 m of retail floor space - big to small with landscaping; 15 hectares of sustainable production facilities; 30,000 m
for the arts and dining, stopping over, sports, entertainment, education and care and 8,000 parking slots.

The major players are linked in a private-public construction, headed the Belvédère District Development Company, with the City of Maastricht, BPF Bouwinvest & ING Real Estate. Then there is the vertical real estate development OCB – The Belvédère Development combine – and BPF Bouwinvest including the RO Group and 3W.

At Boschstraat 24 in Maastricht, there is a dedicated information center for the Belvédère project, with a wide range of information available and open to the public from January 8, 2008, Tuesday through Friday from 11.00hrs - 16.00hrs.
Http://www.belvedere-maastricht.nl/