Dar Malta expected to house Volkswagen

Volkswagen, Europe's largest car manufacturer, is expected to become a tenant in the building housing the Maltese government's EU Permanent Representation in Brussels, Dar Malta.

Negotiations between Volkswagen and the Maltese authorities, which have been going on for the past months, are expected to be concluded "very shortly", sources told The Sunday Times.

The news comes five years after the controversial 12-storey property was purchased.

When contacted, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech confirmed that talks between Mimcol - the government agency responsible for the lease of the premises - and the German group were close to conclusion.

The sources said Mimcol was also negotiating with other "prestigious names" which had shown a keen interest in transferring some of their office operations to Dar Malta. However, VW seems to be the first to reach an advanced stage of negotiations.

The government has appointed two estate agents to market the rental of office space to third parties. Four floors, measuring a total of 2,110 square metres, out of the available nine have been put on the market.

The estate agents are also seeking to let one of the three available underground parking floors with a capacity of 16 car spaces.

Office space in the Dar Malta area - situated in Rue Archimede, right opposite the building hosting the headquarters of the European Commission, is considered to be one of the most expensive in the European capital, although rental rates have dropped recently due to the current economic situation.

In 2008, the overall responsibility of the Dar Malta premises, which currently hosts some 60 Maltese officers serving the Maltese Permanent Representation to the EU and the Maltese embassy to Belgium, was transferred from the Finance Ministry to Mimcol.

The government bought the Brussels building on Malta's accession to the EU in 2004 at a cost of €21 million. It opened its doors in February 2007 following extensive refurbishment works that transformed the building into state-of-the-art offices. Since then, the four floors available for rent have been vacant.