Growners acquires 'TT-Center' in Hasselt
26 June 2020 
Growners announces the official acquisition of the TT-Center in Hasselt, its first major acquisition of a shopping centre. The acquisition was completed with the assistance of international broker Jones Lang LaSalle. The Growners project is ambitious: this 20.000 m2 building - devoted almost entirely to retail - will be open to other activities such as offices (business/co-working centre), but also to hospitality establishments and culture and leisure activities, alongside the current shops and new brands.
We plan to set up an office in the TT-Center in order to stay fully active in this ambitious project, while optimising communication between Hasselt and its headquarters. “While staying true to its DNA, we aim to inject new life into the TT-Center by bringing in new kinds of activities. With this combination of retail and leisure spaces, we aim to create a true ecosystem in which everyone will find what they need. By doing so, we hope to attract an even broader customer base, with more emphasis on 16-30 year olds,” said Eric Bastin, Managing Partner of Growners. Growners' goal is to position the TT-Center as an attractive destination through its offering and its leisure facilities.g Partner of Growners.
A project to revitalise the city of Hasselt
Early in the year, Hasselt initiated several projects to revitalise itself and attract more people to its city centre. Unfortunately, the lockdown, which involved strict health measures, prevented the many activities planned to promote the city's revival from taking place.
The aim is to establish cooperation between Growners and the city of Hasselt to put this city-centre revival project back on track. "The authorities of the city of Hasselt, starting with the mayor, aim to diversify the experiences of the city as much as possible, for the inhabitants as well as for tourists. The TT-Center should achieve this aim perfectly and will attract many people. Due to its location in the city and also in relation to the rest of the province, we see great potential here," explains Steven Sagman, COO & Growners Letting Coordinator.
Growners, a business model focused on revitalising property complexes
With the acquisition of the TT-Center, Growners is pursuing its strategy on the basis of a business model that has been well established for 12 years. Indeed, the Growners strategy is to acquire buildings or warehouses and give them a new life by rethinking the layout of the various spaces and then renting and selling them to companies. The objective of this strategy is to respond to growing demand from the property market, which is increasingly relevant to current thinking such as sales and investments in turnkey spaces.
"Eighty per cent of our real-estate projects are located in Flanders and our location near Brussels allows us to remain fully responsive throughout the country. In this enviable position, we are proud to say that we are a 100% Belgian real-estate player," concludes Eric Bastin, Managin