A sustainable and completely unique real estate project at the gates of Waterloo has now become a reality. It is called BELLA VITA, an intergenerational complex developed by JCX IMMO and Immobel, convinced of the interest of what they had imagined a long time ago: a new way to live together! It has been inaugurated this week, in the presence of the authorities and local inhabitants.

Renovation and building with respect for our heritage

Bella Vita's premises date back to 2005. The property developers' idea was to build a whole neighbourhood that would involve extensive renovation and new building because the site clearly contained property that had to be preserved.

Since then, Immobel and JCX IMMO, in collaboration with a number of persevering partners, have been able to develop this project over a surface area of 15 hectares. The project has always been conducted in close collaboration with the local authorities and in consultation with the local inhabitants. In 2009, they were already invited to make remarks and suggestions regarding the plans presented to them, and they were largely taken into account. Today, the site will help Waterloo overcome a housing shortage that has been an issue for the past few years.

A convivial neighbourhood

The works lasted almost four years. The streets are named after important figures associated with the history of the commune of Waterloo. The project's first objective was to encourage conviviality and quality of life for all the inhabitants (including the local inhabitants nearby) while giving this new residential neighbourhood a soul. The owners made a commitment to take an active and collaborative part in Club Bella Vita as soon as they bought their property. They are now involved in the daily running of the site and have completely taken the project on board with the active cooperation of the commune, which actually sits on the club's executive board.

An example of openness and proximity

Despite the many infrastructures present on the site such as the library, the indoor swimming pool, multipurpose facilities and the restaurant, Bella Vita isn't closed to others. Inhabitants who are members of the Club Bella Vita not-for-profit association can use the play areas, the communal vegetable garden and the alleys. The paths and lanes (which will be transferred to the commune) are organised in such a way as to maintain a permanent sense of conviviality (no pavement and an authorised maximum speed of 20 km/h).

A retirement home, service flats and a municipal childcare centre are also part of the complex. The local hospital (part of the Cliniques de l’Europe network), in collaboration with the general practitioners and on-duty doctors in Waterloo, is also one of the most important elements in this project. It is already running with no less than 15 different types of departments!

"We are very far from the isolation feared by many people, because we're in an open living space. This innovative project pushed the initiators of this complex to explore a great many possibilities", stresses Gaël Cruysmans, from JCX IMMO.

A desire to live differently

Immobel and JCX IMMO therefore took up this crazy challenge to create a smart new neighbourhood managed partly by the residents, while maintaining an ideal and evolving living environment for every one of them.
Hence, they organise various activities focused on sport, the community, culture, etc. Pilates lessons, art workshops and get-togethers in the vegetable garden have already been set up. Others are in the pipeline.

A few figures

Today, out of the 87 houses and 182 apartments, there are only six and four respectively still to be sold. This shows the undeniable success of the offering which initially appealed to the over-55s. But this soon changed when young couples and families with young children soon realised the benefits of such a site.

"This type of development is an example that could well be copied. We are already thinking of applying it to other projects because the demand for new ways of living and living together is continuing to grow on the market" concludes Nicolas Billen, Head of Development at Immobel.

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