The City of Antwerp, Participatie Maatschappij Vlaanderen (PMV) and Waterwegen en Zeekanaal (W&Z) have awarded the Blue O’pen consortium the PPP tender to carry out the remediation, redevelopment and commercialization of the historically polluted Petroleum Zuid site.
Blue O’pen consortium comprises the environmental and marine engineering group DEME and real estate and sustainability specialist Bopro.
They will join a public-private partnership (PPP) converting the last urban wasteland at the southern edge of Antwerp into a top location for eco-innovation.
Blue Gate Antwerp is a brownfield site located along the River Scheldt being redeveloped into a high-quality and water-bound corporate zone. The wasteland of 63 ha is located between the new Antwerp Court and the Hobokense Polder, close to Antwerp South.
On the historically highly polluted area various types of pollution will be eliminated, such as mineral oils, PAK’s and heavy metals. At the same time Dredging International (DI), DEME subsidiary, will start the works on the infrastructure for the new corporate zone, whereby the site will be raised.
Alain Bernard, Chief Executive Officer of DEME comments: “ This new cooperation fits into DEME’s strong cooperation strategy whereby, together with our partners, we search for a balanced relationship when approaching complex projects. For DEME, Blue Gate Antwerp is a key reference project in the home market and it confirms that our company is a reliable and experienced party and highlights our broad ranging capabilities to clients worldwide. ”
In parallel with the remediation and infrastructure works, DEME’s consortium partner Bopro will start the sustainability direction and the marketing of Blue Gate Antwerp.
[mappress mapid=”21978″]