- Daily & Weekly newsletters
- Buy & download The Bulletin
- Comment on our articles
Council of State to rule on US embassy's new building plans
Belgium's supreme administrative court has been asked to intervene in a dispute over the US embassy's planned move to Watermael-Boitsfort.
Property firm Cofinimmo, which owns the former Axa building on Boulevard du Souverain, has appealed to the Council of State to overturn an application for the building to become a listed property.
The local municipality and the Brussels region want the building and its surrounding gardens to be protected against any major architectural or structural changes.
If the US embassy takes over the site, it will want to make substantial changes, not least for security reasons. Some reports had even suggested the embassy could demolish the building and build a new one from scratch.
The municipality of Boitsfort opposes any changes to the 1970s office building, which it considers to be part of the area's architectural heritage. The application for listed status was lodged in May.
Comments
Imo it's sheer politics by the current mayor of Watermael-Boitsfort. A reaction to the Donald and his antics. The mouse that roared, revisited.
Anon2: Nonsense. It's a gorgeous building and deserves to be protected. It's the US that changed their story when the new administration took power.
RHarris: It's a very beautiful site with lovely grounds. But it's precisely because of the new US administration (unfortunately) now in power that the W-B mayor is trying to change the sale conditions retrospectively or introduce new ones after the sale is done and dusted, Normally any conditions/restrictions are made known before a property is sold, not afterwards. Why didn't he rush to get the building listed as soon as Axa announced it was going to be sold?