Sustainable, pleasant working environments for industrial SMEs

The ideal location for your SME's business building? Chances are, as a business owner, you say, "Strategically located, easily accessible and preferably as close as possible to where I live." Hercull builds space for business: sustainable, semi-industrial business parks with warehouses, offices and even housing in locations where there is a need for real estate for SMEs. Sustainability, pleasant working environments and optimal use of indoor and outdoor space run like a thread through their projects.

In 2023, Hercull celebrated its five-year anniversary and moved to new offices in Marke, in Kratos business park that Hercull developed itself. "This allows prospective buyers to see directly what our sheds and office spaces look like, what materials we use and the quality we stand for," says managing director Maarten Allijns. 

"The business park is in a quiet location among greenery, yet close to the R8 around Kortrijk. We ourselves are in a unit with a warehouse on the first floor and offices on the second floor."

Nine new business parks

"Right now, we are developing nearly 200,000 square meters of land across nine business parks," Allijns says. "The applications for the environmental permits have been submitted. The plan is to have all nine projects ready by 2025. These are business parks in Tielt, Wingene, Zwevegem, Bredene, Eeklo, Hooglede, Wielsbeke, Oostrozebeke and Boortmeerbeek."

Optimal use of space

"We are aware of how important space is," Allijns emphasizes. "That's why we treat it sustainably in all our business parks. We keep as much outdoor space free as possible and make maximum use of the indoor space we create. The project in Boortmeerbeek is a good example of this. There we provide two floors along the highway between Leuven and Mechelen. A first floor with two units of 4,000 m² each with loading docks and a second layer with eighteen SME units and an outdoor car park accessible via a driveway. We are thus creating 19,000 m² of business space on a 22,000 m² site."

Eye for plans of the city

In Tielt, Hercull is developing a 50,000 m² business park. "On an area of 40,000 m², we are building 22,000 to 25,000 m² of business space this year, fully customized for the future owners. It will be a combination of smaller units and sheds of 1,000 to 2,000 m² that we may or may not combine with housing. We are not developing the other 10,000 m² for now. This is an agreement with the city of Tielt, which wants to reduce traffic pressure in the center. Thanks to the free space we offer the city, the board now has all the freedom, time and possibilities to solve that traffic problem." 

Green site by neighborhood demand

In Marke, Hercull is developing Mercury business park on the site of an old bookbinding shop and right next to an elementary school. Through a neighborhood consultation, they involved local residents and the school in the development. "At their request, we make the neighborhood more livable and provide only 3,000 m² of buildings on a 12,000 m² site. We will have the asbestos from the old building removed only on weekends when there are no children around. We provide water infiltration, lots of greenery and at the back of the site a bike path over which students can safely cycle to and from school." 

"With three studio homes where entrepreneurs can work and live, we are further enhancing livability. And to make the units blend into the environment, we are cladding them with green sandwich panels."

Reconversion and custom building

Hercull is concentrating more and more on brownfield sites and custom building. "We make sure that in those reconversion projects we can offer the quality and sustainability we stand for. This can be through demolition, renovation or a combination of the two. And at the request of prospective buyers, we offer more customization. For example, they can choose how high and how long their unit is and whether there should be loading docks and offices," Allijns concludes.