Defence Minister Ludivine Dedonder on Wednesday unveiled a new residential complex built in Sint-Stevens-Woluwe, Zaventem, by her department’s Office central d’Action sociale et culturelle (OCASC).
The complex offers 40 homes to military personnel, with priority given to those in active service. It is made up of 31 duplex flats and nine single ones.
Built on the edge of the Quartier Reine Elisabeth (QRE), which houses Defence Headquarters and most of its ancillary services, the complex is called Oasis, after the former Air Force cultural centre that once stood on the site.
The project, worth around €10 million, is part of an investment programme for 120 homes. Of these, 75 have already been built: 40 in Wallonia (at Bourdon, Oui, Belgrade and Piétrebais), 15 at Bourg-Léopold (Limbourg) and 20 at Neder-Over-Heembeek, in the northern suburbs of Brussels.
The 40 homes in the Oasis complex, spread over seven buildings in a new, wooded residential area, are intended primarily for active military personnel – including those posted to the QRE.
Two months after being put up for rent, two-thirds of the homes – which are well insulated, particularly in terms of soundproofing, due to their proximity to Zaventem Airport – have already been allocated, OCASC's Eddy Baertsoen told Belga News Agency.
Eventually, the number of homes will double to 80, according to the plans of OCASC, a public body under the Defence Department that manages a portfolio of 3,200 homes throughout Belgium.
