'Revive Impact Fund' for the development of over 5,000 new homes.
LIVING
Ghent property developer Revive is setting up a new green investment fund - the 'Revive Impact Fund' - with an initial capital of 30 million euros. With it, the company aims to raise up to EUR 300 million from institutional investors and family offices.
Victrix, the family holding of Virginie Saverys, is investing 40 million euros in Revive: 10 million will go to the 'Revive Impact Fund' and 30 million to acquire a minority stake in Revive. Besides Victrix and Revive’s management, other sign-ups include SPDG, the holding company of the Périer-D'Ieteren family, and Paverco, of the East Flanders printer family Verstraete.
The Revive Impact Fund will invest in 20 to 30 inner-city real estate developments in Belgium, Portugal and Poland, totalling over 5,000 new homes. The fund will be compliant to the 'Article 9' obligations of European legislation on sustainability reporting. It is weeding out fossil fuels and focuses on affordable housing and social cohesion. In its interview by De Tijd, Alexandre Huyghe, CEO at Revive, underlines: ‘the developments will go for 100 per cent reuse of existing sites, at least 10 per cent affordable housing, i.e. below market price, at least 3 per cent shared space in each project, and working exclusively carbon-neutral.’
Revive was founded in 2009 by Nicolas Bearelle and Mieke Vanhuyse, with financial support from Piet Colruyt. The company specialised in the conversion of disused industrial sites into modern and sustainable residential areas. Revive has a development pipeline and 6,000 residential units. It is valued at 2 billion euro. Examples of projects include Komet in Mechelen, Rute in Gentbrugge, Saffrou in Oudenaarde and Ekla in Brussels. Future plans include the Vynckier site in Ghent and the Marie Thumas site in Leuven.