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The Antwerp Tower is a skyscraper in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
(Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
). Originally built in 1974 with a height of , the Antwerp Tower was the third tallest building in Antwerp, behind the Cathedral of our Lady and the KBC tower. After the completion of an extensive renovation in 2019-2021 where two double-height floors were added, the Antwerp Tower is now the second tallest building in the city overall and the highest residential building, with a height of .
History
Since 1900, the site had been the location of the "Grand Hotel Weber", aBelle Époque
The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque (; French for "Beautiful Epoch") is a period of French and European history, usually considered to begin around 1871–1880 and to end with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era ...
style luxury hotel, which was severely damaged by bombings in World War II and stood empty for almost 20 years until it was demolished in the late 1960s. The site was subsequently sold to developers who erected Antwerp Tower, an high office building which opened in 1974. Despite counting prominent companies among its renters, such as Yellow Pages and Unilever
Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...
, the office building never became popular and renting out offices became increasingly difficult. In 2012 the building was sold to Wilma Project Development, a part of the Matexi Group, who intended to convert the tower to residential units after an extensive renovation.
Before the renovation, the Antwerp Tower was often considered to be one of the ugliest buildings in Europe, both due to its out of place location and its copper colored facade.
Renovation
Wilma Project Development, a part of the Matexi Group, purchased the building in 2012 for 25 million Euros. The renovation started in 2017 and was finished in 2021. The building was transformed from an office building to a mainly residential tower, with only limited commercial and office space on the lower levels. The building was gut renovated, the dimensions were altered by adding two double height floors on top and widening the floors on all levels. The finished tower has a total of 241 residential units.Commercial and office spaces
Restaurants Hawaiian Poké Bowl andPitaya
A pitaya () or pitahaya () is the fruit of several different cactus species indigenous to the Americas. Pitaya usually refers to fruit of the genus '' Stenocereus'', while pitahaya or dragon fruit refers to fruit of the genus '' Selenicereus' ...
occupy the commercial spaces on the ground floor, consumer electronics retailer Media Markt
Media Markt is a German multinational chain of stores selling consumer electronics with over 1000 stores in Europe. With chain of stores Saturn it constitutes Media-Saturn Holding, owned by the retail company Ceconomy, which was demerged from M ...
occupies the first floor.
Real estate investor Befimmo
Since 1995, Befimmo has been pursuing a policy of investing in buildings in locations and letting them to tenants. Over time, Befimmo has specialised in particular in investing in office buildings mainly located in city centres, notably in Brusse ...
purchased the three office floors which will become a Silversquare coworking location starting in 2022.
References
{{Tallest buildings and structures in Belgium Buildings and structures in Antwerp Office buildings completed in 1974 1974 establishments in Belgium Residential buildings completed in 2021