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 Vereist’s classic building contractcontractors’ing firm of Verelst. company. They targeted the office market in particular and grew to become the Belgian market leader in professional real estate.
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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. 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 he couldn't refuse from the Australian Goodman Group, and the Australians took over Eurinpro.
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Alongside Eurinpro, Bart Verhaeghe also set up two real estate funds - Siref and Retail Estates - that invest exclusively in real estate, which he has since left.
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Real estate development and investment funds come together under one roof at LakeSprings. The investments in Club Brugge and in non-profit organizations such as Itinera form an integral part of LakeSprings’ mission to support entrepreneurship, in all possible ways and in a wide diversity of fields.