LakeSprings

OUR HISTORY

Bart Verhaeghe took his first steps in real estate in 1992, when he met contractor Luc Verelst. The duo expanded a project development arm, Eurinpro, within the classic contracting firm of Verelst.  They targeted in particular the office market and the logistics sector. Especially in the Benelux, Eurinpro was the largest player in the marker, where it developed various innovative office buildings in Mechelen and around Zaventem, Brussels International Airport.

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At the end of the 1990s Bart Verhaeghe was co-founder of two real estate funds, Siref (the current Intervest Offices & Warehouses) and Retail Estates, which became the sustainable owner of many real estate products developed by Eurinpro  

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When the project development activities eventually outstripped contracting at Verelst, they went their separate ways and formed two separate companies. Bart Verhaeghe went on to manage Eurinpro. He took Jan Van Lancker, the current CEO of Uplace, on board as a partner in 2002. Under their management, Eurinpro went fully international, becoming the European market leader in the development of offices and warehouses. The project development firm also quickly gained a foothold in other parts of the world. 

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After a number of challenging years, Bart Verhaeghe received an offer from the Australian Goodman Group that offered Eurinpro a very good long-term future. The Australians took over Eurinpro in 2006.

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The focus once again returned to his native country, when Bart Verhaeghe together with Professor Marc De Vos founded the independent think-and-do tank Itinera. This organization investigates major societal issues totally independently and completely objectively, with a view to improving policy and the maintenance of welfare and well-being in our country.  

A year later project developer Uplace and the investment fund Redwoods were set up. Just like the participation in Club Brugge (in 2012) these companies have been brought together under one roof at LakeSprings holding. Later Fagus Invest was added to the portfolio: a company that manages the investments in non-public companies.

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