Brownfields
Brownfield sites heralded the beginning of the MGRE story. The decontamination of the Texaco refinery (Ghent - Belgium) in 1985 was Ignace De Paepe's very first assignment. 250 hectares of contaminated soil, ready to be tackled using an unprecedented approach, because at that time this kind of demolition had never taken place in Belgium.
Many other large-scale projects soon followed, such as the Petrogal refinery (Lisbon - Portugal), the Leuna refinery (Leipzig - Germany) and the Shell depot (Neder-Over-Heembeek - Belgium). These formed the basis of our expertise and experience today.
SPACE IS SCARCE
The solution? Decontaminate outdated industrial sites and work on new developments for working and living.
Every site has potential. The oldest industrial sites often occupy multimodal locations, close to approach roads or next to waterways. Unfortunately, these are often also places with the most complex features. Well-thought-out solutions devised by the MG Real Estate team can transform those risks into an intelligent redevelopment strategy.
INTEGRATED APPROACH TO REDEVELOPMENT
When you think of brownfield sites you often make the link with soil contamination, but other forms of contamination such as asbestos in buildings are also possible. MG Real Estate does not focus solely on soil remediation when redeveloping a brownfield site. Our aim is an integral approach that combines water, greenery and infrastructure. Current brownfield developments such as the CAT site in Vilvoorde (UpTown), the Ford site in Genk (Genk Green Logistics) or Ragheno in Mechelen (Marcelis Garden) are perfect examples. Such projects inspire us to think about a more diversified development strategy. In such areas, it must be possible to achieve a sustainable mix of living, working, shopping and relaxing.