Docks Bruxsel shifting up a gear with property manager Ceusters

Docks Bruxsel is stepping up its game in 2022. After a terrific number of visitors in recent months, the shopping centre is aiming to receive a record 6.3 million visitors in 2022.

To this end, NEG, owner of Docks Bruxsel, has entered into a new partnership with Ceusters, the family owned real estate company. The latter will take over the management of the well-known shopping centre from now on.

With the record year of 2021 only just behind us, Docks Bruxsel is already showing some impressive figures. In the first three months of the year, it attracted no less than 1.7MN visitors with January peaking at 700,000 shoppers. This makes the Brussels mall – which besides shops, also houses a cinema, an event hall, and an actual adventure park – one of the best-performing shopping centres in our country.  

“In recent years, Docks Bruxsel has become one of the established assets in the Belgian retail landscape, with a low vacancy rate fluctuates at about 5 per cent”, states Peter Todd, Portus Retail Founder. “In addition to a great variety of brands, the shopping centre offers a wide range of food and leisure services like no other. With spacious and modern facilities to ensure the safety and well-being of our customers, we offer real added value. And today more than ever, this global experience approach is a proven success.”

New partnership with Ceusters

Nonetheless, Docks Bruxsel does not intend to stop there and plans to move up a gear by joining forces with property management company Ceusters. They will therefore handle the management of the shopping centre for at least the next three years and will be responsible for boosting Docks' strong ambitions. 

“For each project, we always work with different specialised partners from all over the world, and Ceusters clearly impressed us”, recounts Peter Todd, Portus Retail Founder. “Whether through their personal approach or through their knowledge of the local market. We strongly believe that their expertise will help us better prepare Docks Bruxsel for the future of shopping.”

Visitors from across the country 

It will be no surprise to many that Ceusters will be the new manager of the Brussels shopping centre. Currently, the real estate company with HQ in Antwerp is the largest independent manager of shopping centres in our country. They have been successful in the retail world for many years with the likes of Wijnegem Shop Eat Enjoy, Grands Prés in Mons, K in Kortrijk, and many others. For Ceusters, it is also an important and unique management mandate added to their portfolio. 

“Docks Bruxsel is now fully on track to establish itself”, declares Axel Ceusters, COO Ceusters. “ It offers everything that a shopping centre should offer in the year 2022, an appealing range of shops, plenty of catering establishments, personal experiences, and even office space. The large indoor amusement park Lego Discovery Centre will open this summer, which will attract even more visitors from across the country. We are extremely excited to work together with Portus Retail and believe that our experience will help Docks Bruxsel grow even more.”

Focus on sustainability 

Today, Docks Bruxsel is known as one of the most sustainable mall in Europe. The ventilation and air conditioning are provided naturally thanks to an ingeniously integrated ventilation system in the large glass roof. There are no less than 4,500 m² of solar panels and the rainwater is filtered through a green roof, which is reused for the sanitary facilities, to clean the shopping centre and water the plants.  

Such sustainability is an asset for the new manager. Indeed, at the end of last year, Ceusters joined the UN Global Compact, the world's largest strategic sustainability initiative for companies. They will also look at Docks Bruxsel – as with its other shopping centres – to see how it can make Brussels shopping even more sustainable and how it can enhance even more the customer experience. 

_{About Docks Bruxsel} 

_{Docks Bruxsel is a unique shopping and leisure destination on the banks of the Brussels canal. The centre includes over 100 retail outlets, Koezio, an indoor adventure park with a concept unlike any other in Belgium, 15 restaurants that take you on a gustatory tour of the world, the Docks Dôme, an event space for up to 1,500 people, and the Espace Godin, which recalls the site's industrial past. In short, there is something for everyone. Pure pleasure, inside and out, in a remarkable and sustainable building with excellent BREEAM certification and easy access.}

_{About Portus Retail}

_{Portus Retail is a specialist property asset management company focused on the investment and management of shopping centres and retail environments across Europe. We deliver shopping centres and retail destinations that perform, not just for property owners and developers but also for retailers, consumer brands and their customers. www.portusretail.com} 

_{About Ceusters}

_{Ceusters is a property management company and real estate agency that started in early 2013 as a result of a merger of sister companies Immobiliën Hugo Ceusters NV (founded in 1946) and Shopping Center Management Services NV (SCMS) to guarantee an optimal internal cooperation and information flow. In 2017, Devimo Consult, a member of the sector, was purchased. Ceusters employs approximately 100 people at the group level and generated gross sales of over 18 million euros in 2021 www.ceusters.be}