We found the trace of Uncle Sam in Belgium, but don’t repeat it too loudly… After having probed near Watermael-Boitsfort and the magnificent site of the Belgian Royale and having come up once morest the refusal of the Ecolo Olivier Deleuze, the Americans are now setting their sights on the site that the ING bank is regarding to leave to build their brand new Belgian embassy, reveals LN24.
The project is colossal since it involves bringing the three American diplomatic representations in Brussels, namely the Embassy to Belgium, to the European Union and to NATO, to a single location: l ING location at Cours Saint-Michel in Etterbeek.
For ages, Americans have been trying to leave the cramped buildings located on the inner ring of Brussels. These buildings are a nightmare in terms of security, especially when the American president arrives in the Belgian capital and stays at the embassy.
It is therefore Etterbeek – which we will therefore have to rename little Washington in the future – which is the happy municipality elected by the Americans… The relocation file must be approved by the US Congress this fall.
Vincent Dewolf : “Rensure the neighborhood and local residents”
Obviously, a project of this magnitude will not go unnoticed and the local mayor, Vincent De Wolf, is in the oven and in the mill. “I am delighted that the Americans choose our beautiful town to settle,” he said as a preamble to LN24. Because there will be problems and difficulties. Firstly of a financial nature since an embassy is no longer an office and there will therefore be a shortfall of 2 million euros per year for Etterbeek compared to the ING era.
The Americans plan to raze the old office buildings and build a new one with half the floor area; the municipality will recover (it) part of the area to build housing. “We will have to reassure the neighborhood and the residents too,” adds De Wolf. “With the European summits and the embassy, there is no question that this beautiful district will become unlivable.”
The permits have not yet been officially introduced but the municipality sees all this “with a positive spirit”, add our colleagues from LN24.
