A company is above all men working together", said Auguste Lannoye, the founder of the Genval and Mont-Saint-Guibert paper mills. Nearly one hundred years later, we could easily paraphrase him, since on the two sites he founded, we could soon say that it is mostly men who "live" together.
After the "Papeteries de Genval", where wallpaper and balatum were once produced, the construction of the "Jardins de l'Orne" began. A project worth 60 million euros for 230 dwellings on 6 hectares in the Mont-Saint-Guibert area, with a first phase planned for the Résidences des Hayeffes, a 62-unit apartment building with 47 underground car parks, and 45 dwellings on 5 hectares in the Court-Saint-Étienne area, where the first twelve houses are already well advanced.
While in Genval, the company Equilis, a subsidiary of the Mestdagh group, has taken charge of the remediation, it is the Ginkgo fund which is responsible for the whole operation in Mont-Saint-Guibert. Specialised in sustainable remediation of significantly polluted sites in Europe, this fund relies on partners as diverse as the Edmond de Rothschild group, the French Caisse des Dépôts, the Société fédérale de participations et d'investissement, the European Investment Bank and the Société régionale d'investissement de Wallonie.
The remediation of the site will cost €2.5 million, with a follow-up over five years, and include the demolition of the former paper mill: 16,000 m2 of buildings sometimes up to 27 metres high. Imagine the happiness for the residents of the Rue Auguste Lannoye! They will now be able to have a new district in front of their house that Jean-Luc Son, the promoter of the Jardins de l'Orne, sees as a "complement to the centre" of Mont-Saint-Guibert, with a new "Place de la Papeterie", a "Jean-François Breuer loop" in homage to the former mayor who launched the project, and a "Coulée verte" with a pedestrian and cycling path. There is also talk of two areas for liberal professions and a 400 m2 shop. With the cheapest house from 254,000 euros or a studio from 120,000 euros.
What is special about the marketing of this new district? The Oculus Lift allows you to visit it in 3D on a virtual roller coaster that makes you really lose your balance. It's not a revolution for Mont-Saint-Guibert," notes Mayor Philippe Evrard (Ecolo). It's an evolution for a village that is ending its industrial past. "One of the strong points of the project is the future possibility of cycling from Beaurieux to the Hayeffes schools, notably with the rehabilitation of a small bridge, the construction of a forebay which will allow the Orne to be opened up again, the original bed still passing under the old slab, and the arrival of the Pachy crèche which will leave Louvain-la-Neuve and be extended to 36 beds. It will just be necessary to adjust the Loop which will extend over two communes", specifies the Guibertin maÏeur. With different taxes and waste collection... We should reach an agreement. »
JEAN-PHILIPPE DE VOGELAERE - Le Soir
Tuesday 19 April 2016