Dar Malta for rent

The government has finally set the ball rolling to lease almost half of the controversial Dar Malta building in Brussels.

Seven floors, including a three-storey underground garage in Rue Archimede - right in the middle of the European quarter in Brussels - is being offered to let. The office space is expected to attract various Belgian and international companies.

This has been made possible following a technical amendment in the Maltese Land Disposal Act which enables the government to lease its properties outside Malta through a competitive tender.

Prior to this amendment - approved by Parliament last January just days before it was dissolved before the general election - the lease of such property was problematic since a parliamentary resolution was required every time a new tenant wished to lease part of the office space available at Dar Malta.

Government sources told The Sunday Times: "We are now in full swing and the office space at Dar Malta will soon start being advertised all over Belgium. Prior to this phase we already had a lot of interest from companies wanting to set up their offices in the heart of the EU."

Overall responsibility for Dar Malta, which currently hosts around 60 Maltese officers serving the Maltese Permanent Representation to the EU and the Maltese embassy to Belgium, has now been transferred from the Finance Ministry to MIMCOL - a government agency taking care of all government investments.

MIMCOL has the required experience in this area as it already administers a similar Maltese building in London - Malta House - which hosts the High Commission and Air Malta's offices.

It is understood that MIMCOL has also concluded negotiations with a reputable Belgian real estate company, Business Space, which will be responsible for attracting clients and leasing office space on behalf of the Maltese government.

Dar Malta, bought by the Government in 2004 in Brussels at a cost of €20.7 million (Lm9) million, opened its doors in February 2007 following major refurbishment works, which transformed the building into state-of-the-art offices. The building has not yet been officially inaugurated.

According to various real estate agencies the price of property in central Brussels in the past five years has increased by an average of 10 per cent.

The extra floors to be leased on short term contracts will be eventually used when Malta assumes special EU functions, such as the Presidency of the EU, in the first six months of 2017.