The cities of Ghent, Leuven, and Louvain-la-Neuve are the most sought after by international investors targeting Belgium
News release
13 May 2024
Life Sciences Real Estate: a growing asset class offering great investment opportunities
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Brussels, May 14, 2024 - JLL, one of the leading real estate companies in Belgium, conducted a study on the main life sciences clusters in our country. This study echoes another study conducted at the European level.
Let's summarize the key findings.
A key economic sector for Belgium
Thanks to a particularly favorable tax regime for Research & Development, the life sciences sector, including pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, is a significant player in the Belgian economy. According to the association Pharma.Be, the sector employs 43,501 direct jobs, a figure that has grown by 19% over the past five years. Another notable fact is that R&D represents 2.7% of Belgium's GDP, significantly higher than the European average of 2.2%.
In terms of sector financing, although the persistence of high-interest rates has slightly dampened private investors' appetite for risk, the Life Sciences cluster in Belgium benefits from financial support from public authorities. In Flanders, PMV and VIB are particularly active, while in Wallonia, Noshaq, SRIW, and the intermunicipal of Brabant Wallon in-BW provide financial support.
As we can see, research and life sciences are an essential component of our ecosystem, and this has several implications for real estate, which the study aims to clarify.[...]
About JLL
For over 200 years, JLL (NYSE: JLL), a leading global commercial real estate and investment management company, has helped clients buy, build, occupy, manage and invest in a variety of commercial, industrial, hotel, residential and retail properties. A Fortune 500® company with annual revenue of $20.8 billion and operations in over 80 countries around the world, our more than 106,000 employees bring the power of a global platform combined with local expertise. Driven by our purpose to shape the future of real estate for a better world, we help our clients, people and communities SEE A BRIGHTER WAYSM. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com.