SAU-MSI looks for temporary occupants for Usquare.brussels site

The Urban Development Corporation (SAU-MSI) has today issued a Call for expressions of interest (CEI) to identify project owners for the temporary occupation of part of the former gendarmerie school site at the corner of Boulevard Général Jacques and Avenue de la Couronne in Ixelles.

This CEI follows, as the SAU-MSI previously announced, the public procurement procedure that it launched on 20 April to appoint an operator responsible for the coordination, revitalisation and transition management of the whole of this site. This role is expected to last for approximately three years – the period during which the SAU-MSI will prepare for the implementation of the Usquare.brussels urban regeneration operation and during which urban planning, works tendering and other procedures will take place. Ultimately the site, which is currently enclosed by a perimeter wall, will be opened up and comprehensively converted into public spaces, housing, local facilities, university activities, student housing and so on (for more information, go to www.usquare.brussels).

The Region, the universities (ULB and VUB) and the municipality of Ixelles wanted to take advantage of the preparatory phase of this conversion, during which extensive work will not be taking place on the site, to run a transition management project. To realise this shared desire on the part of these institutions, and working in close collaboration with them, the SAU-MSI has therefore chosen to publish a CEI in order to initiate reflection on possible temporary uses for part of the site, in consultation with its future transition manager.

Project owners can now submit their applications, in accordance with the terms of the CEI (FR, NL). Applications will be evaluated by a panel consisting of representatives of the SAU-MSI, the universities, the municipality of Ixelles, the Facilities Directorate of the Regional Public Service of Brussels and the future transition manager. The selection criteria, detailed in the CEI, relate to factors such as added value for the local area and its inhabitants; added value in relation to the ambitions of the overall Usquare.brussels operation; compatibility with the transition management phase as a whole; compatibility with the site (spaces, constraints, local residents etc.); technical, financial and administrative feasibility; sustainability; and organisational quality.

The selected project owners must meet various requirements, including: the signing of a short-term occupancy agreement; the obligation to vacate the site by the due date; the self-financing of the investments necessary for the project and the associated expenses; compliance with the applicable regulations and obtaining all the necessary authorisations; the arrangement of insurance cover; compatibility with the site (local residents etc.); etc.

The deadline for the receipt of responses is 4 July 2018 at 11 am.

• The Call for expressions of interest, together with all the details of the procedure, is available here: FR - NL