From brownfield to business centre

The foundation stone of Ford Genk, an automotive assembly and parts plant of Ford Motor Company, was laid in 1962. Two years later, production of the Taunus 12M began. Half a century later, with the Ford Galaxy, Mondeo and S-MAX, the last models walked off the assembly line in Genk and production was transferred to Valencia in Spain. This marked the end of an era in Limburg. After all, with 4210 employees – and 1736 at suppliers – Ford Genk was the largest employer in the province of Limburg. Moreover, the plant was the second largest car assembly plant in Belgium. As much as 95% of production was destined for export. To cope with the consequences of the severe economic and social drain, the Flemish Government started developing and implementing a reconversion plan for the province of Limburg in 2013, the so-called SALK plan: the Strategic Action Plan for Limburg in the Squared.

Brownfield

The site has a total area of about 134 hectares and is well accessible by road, rail and the Albert Canal. The site is a brownfield, with structures and buildings still dating from its previous use. The project partners (Flemish Region, City of Genk, Flemish Waterway and the Agency for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Flanders Investment & Trade) drew up a master plan for the redevelopment of the site, which is divided into three sub-areas with a net issuable site area of about 95 hectares and the ambition to create 2,500 jobs:

• zone A: for green and water, public domain and about 5 hectares of issuable plots for common functions;
• zone B: approximately 40 hectares for end-users in the manufacturing industry and value-added logistics, not necessarily water-related;
• zone C: approximately 50 hectares for end-users with water-related (logistics) activities and manufacturing industry, to be developed by nv De Scheepvaart.

PMV’s role

PMV launched an organised market consultation commissioned by the Flemish government in mid-2016 with the aim of finding a developer or end-user(s) for Zone B and the issuable plots in Zone A. At the end of June 2017, the Genk Green Logistics consortium was identified as the preferred bidder to which a final contract closure followed on 25 May 2018. The consortium consists of the Machiels Group, MG Real Estate, Intervest Warehouses & Offices and DEME. The Flemish government sold Zone B to Genk Green Logistics. It involves 42 of a total of 130 hectares. Genk Green Logistics will build 8 halls, or 250,000 sqm, on the site of the former Ford factory. The €120-150 million investment will create 1,500 jobs. The building will be sustainable and the space will be put to the best possible use. The initiators mainly expect companies from e-commerce such as online retailers, service providers and even companies from the smart manufacturing industry to be located there. The first building should be ready in 2020, with the entire complex five years later.

Other partners

Flemish Region, City of Genk, Flemish Waterway and the Agency for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Flanders Investment & Trade

The project in numbers

• Creation of 1,500 jobs (zone B)
• Investment of 120 to 150 million euro (zone B)
• 250,000 m² surface area to be developed (zone B)