Situated between the Chaussée de Louvain, Boulevard Reyers and the Liège motorway (E40) in the east of Brussels, the Reyers Strategic Zone is home to several major urban development programmes, including the ambitious Mediapark.
In a few years' time, they will make it a renewed, mixed, open, lively district, focused on the media and creative industries. Within the strategic Reyers area, there are about sixty companies in the media sector that employ some 5,000 workers (including the 1,100 of the RTBF and the 2,400 of the VRT).
The SAU-MSI is responsible for the operational implementation of the Mediapark.brussels programme by the Regional Government; delegated project management on behalf of the Region, coordination of real estate operations, selection and negotiations with public and private actors for the development of infrastructure, housing and facilities of general interest and public services, management of technical and feasibility studies and search for investors.
To activate the enormous development potential of this 20-hectare site, the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region has drawn up a Master Development Plan (PAD Mediapark) which provides a framework for the complete reconfiguration of the land previously occupied by RTBF and VRT, in collaboration with them and the municipality of Schaerbeek.
The two public broadcasting companies have decided to build their new, more compact headquarters, which respond to recent developments in media technologies, at the heart of the site, set back from Boulevard Reyers. The relocation of RTBF and VRT to their new buildings is planned for 2026 - 2027. SAU-MSI will then begin demolishing the existing buildings. The demolition will last about 4 years and will make way for the new development.
Around these office buildings, the Region aims to develop around 200,000 m² of real estate projects, which will contribute to the quality of life and dynamism of this new district, and which will connect it to the existing fabric. They will integrate residential functions(+/- 1400 public and private housing), commercial, service (schools, nurseries,..), leisure, productive activities and offices; with the clear desire to strengthen the existing economic fabric through an innovative ecosystem focused on the media and creative sectors. These functions are organised around generous central public spaces of nearly 10 hectares, giving space to local biodiversity; the PAD Mediapark provides for the 'sanctuarisation' of a minimum of two hectares.
BELIRIS appointed the consortium Studio Paolo Viganò, Fallow and Egis in 2022 to develop the design of the public space that will open up the new urban district. The design of the public space is the result of close collaboration between all the actors involved: the regional authorities: Brussels Environment, Brussels Mobility, Perpsective, Urban and the BMA; the municipality of Schaerbeek, the VRT and the RTBF. In 2024, a first building application for the development of the public space on the east side will be submitted.
The SAU-MSI itself owns a plot of land located on the front of Boulevard Reyers, between the Diamant pre-metro station and the current RTBF entrance, at the exit of the E40. The SAU-MSI will build a major facility in the Mediapark.brussels ecosystem: Frame, the media house, which is scheduled to be inaugurated in 2025.
