BRUSSELS – The cost of office space in Brussels is rising faster than in almost any other city in the world, according to a survey published on Wednesday.

Only Monterrey in Mexico has seen office rents shooting up faster than in the Belgian capital, the survey by estate agents Cushman & Wakefield Healy & Baker found.

According to the study office rental prices in Brussels ‘Central Business District’ – which includes the European quarter around Rond Point Schuman, Avenue Louise, the area around Gare Leopold and the downtown business district near to the Gare du Nord – increased by an average of 10 percent in 2003.

The rise in Brussels happened during a period when average rental rates around the world actually fell by three percent.

Office space in Brussels’ European quarter now costs an average of EUR 422 per square metre, making the Belgian capital the 15th most expensive city in the world to set up shop in.

[Copyright Expatica News 2004]

Subject: Belgian news