Private wealth is often associated with smaller residential investments. One apartment. A few units. Perhaps a small residential building.
The recent sale of the final phase of Residentiewijk Mol tells a different story.
Avenue Residential advised Cordeel Group on the sale of an entire residential block comprising 34 apartments and approximately 3,012 m². The buyer is a local family office, acquiring the complete building as a long-term buy and hold investment.
With an investment value exceeding €7 million, the transaction demonstrates something we are seeing more often: private capital is willing to move into larger residential deals when the fundamentals justify the commitment.
So why 34 apartments? Why Mol? And why now?
Buying scale instead of individual units
For a long term investor, acquiring 34 apartments in a single transaction creates a very different investment case from gradually assembling a residential portfolio unit by unit.
The buyer gains immediate scale within one location and one project. Instead of making dozens of individual acquisition decisions over several years, the family office can deploy significant capital in one move.
That only works when there is sufficient conviction in the underlying asset.
In this case, the investment combines a sizeable residential volume with a project close to completion. The building is expected to be delivered before the end of the year, limiting the time between acquisition and the moment the asset can create rental income.
For a buy and hold investor, that matters.
The strategy is not based on a quick resale. It is built around holding the apartments over the long term and benefiting from their rental income and potential rental growth.
Why Mol?
The investment case goes beyond the 34 apartments themselves.
Residentiewijk Mol is part of a distinctive residential environment with a history dating back to the 1950s. The neighbourhood was originally developed for employees of the Belgian nuclear research centre, today SCK CEN, and was designed by architect Jacques Wybouw.
Today, the wider development combines that architectural heritage with contemporary residential use.
The site covers almost ten hectares of green surroundings between two waterways. The broader redevelopment will ultimately comprise 323 residential units and combines the existing character of the neighbourhood with modern interventions and energy conscious technologies.
That creates something difficult to replicate. And scarcity matters to long term investors.
The family office wasn’t simply acquiring 34 newly developed apartments. It was gaining exposure to a residential environment with its own identity, history and characteristics that cannot easily be reproduced elsewhere.
Immediate visibility, long term horizon
Timing was another important part of the decision.
The deal was signed this summer and the building is expected to be delivered before the end of the year. This relatively short timeframe creates visibility for the investor. There is a fundamental difference between committing capital to a development that still has years of construction ahead, and acquiring an asset approaching completion.
At the same time, the investment horizon itself is deliberately long. The family office is following a buy and hold strategy, with the expectation that residential rental income and rental growth will create value over time.
That combination is interesting. Short term visibility on delivery. Long term conviction on residential income.
Residential as a destination for private capital
Perhaps the most relevant aspect of this transaction is its scale. An investment value above €7 million clearly moves beyond the traditional image of a private residential investment. That is exactly the point.
Private wealth does not necessarily think small. Family offices can deploy substantial amounts of capital into residential real estate when an opportunity offers the right combination of scale, return, timing and long-term fundamentals.
In this case, the investor could acquire 34 units in one transaction at an attractive return, with delivery following relatively quickly after the deed.
Rather than spreading the investment across numerous unrelated properties, the family chose concentration within a residential asset it understood and believed in.
That is not simply a property decision. It is a capital allocation decision.
€3 million or €30 million. The logic remains the same.
At Avenue, we believe residential investment advice should not depend on the size of the cheque. Whether an investor is deploying €3 million or €30 million, the fundamental questions remain the same.
Why this asset?
Why this location?
Why at this moment?
And the question is, how to get access to off-market opportunities?
What role does it play within the wider investment strategy? And where will its value come from over the next ten or twenty years? Residentiewijk Mol is a strong example of that approach.
The buyer did not acquire 34 apartments simply because 34 apartments were available. The family office acquired scale in a unique residential environment, with an attractive return, near term delivery and a long-term strategy built around rental income and growth.
That is what makes the transaction relevant beyond Mol. It shows that private wealth is willing to make substantial residential moves when the right opportunity presents itself.
Looking to deploy capital into residential real estate?
Avenue Residential advises private investors, family offices and institutional investors on residential acquisitions and portfolio opportunities.
Whether you are looking to invest €3 million or €30 million, we start with the same question: what does the right opportunity look like for your strategy?
Let’s discuss your next move: karel@avenue.eu.