Royal Hamilius building sells rapidly
More than half of the apartments of the prestigious Royal Hamilius building in the centre ofLuxembourg City have now been sold .
The Royal Hamilius site, at the entrance to the ville haute, will also house French luxury department store Galeries Lafayette over six floors, with a panoramic terrace on the top floor.
Luxembourg’s new tram, which will ultimately connect the airport with the city centre and the railway station, will stop right in front of the building. FNAC, the French music store and bookshop, will also have an outlet, as will Belgian supermarket Delhaize.
Units in the development range from studios to four-bedroom apartments between 40sqm and 123sqm, as well as penthouse and duplex accommodation. All 73 apartments are expected to be complete by the first quarter of next year.
Elodie Gesquiere-Rouyer, a senior consultant at Jones Lang LaSalle, said the larger surface areas and two-bedroom flats sold quickly, because there is a dearth of them in the city centre.
Tram is coming, and so are traffic jams
A new phase of works to extend Luxembourg’s tram line will begin in May on the Avenue de la Liberté. The tram currently runs from the Kirchberg business and EU district to the Place de L’Etoile, and the new works would extend the route through to the central train station. From 12 May, works on the lower half of Avenue de la Liberté, between Place de Paris and Place de la Gare, will begin. Traffic will be diverted along Avenue de la Gare and Rue Jean Origer.
More public transport
Since February, works have been underway at the top section of the central thoroughfare which links the station with the old town. The tram network opened its doors to passengers in December 2017 and is slowly being extended across the city. It is expected to reach Findel Airport and the Cloche d’Or business district to the south of the city by 2022.
Northern Trust moves EU HQ
US bank Northern Trust has moved its European bank headquarters from London to Luxembourg after the European Central Bank granted its licence ahead of Brexit. In 2017 the financial services provider, which has offices in Findel and Kirchberg, chose Luxembourg over Ireland as its new European hub, as part of its Brexit plan.
Brussels connections
Rail connections to Brussels are set to become faster and more comfortable, according to Belgian infrastructure company Infrabel, which aims to finish an upgrade of the often-maligned connection by 2020. The works, which began in autumn 2018, should allow for faster speeds and could see travel time between two of Europe’s most important administrative centres reduced by between 11 and 20 minutes.
Beneficial owners
A new public register, which will list who is really in control of companies in Luxembourg, comes into effect on 1 September.
The register of so-called beneficial owners, a requirement under EU law, is intended to bring more transparency and combat opaque structures that can be used for money laundering.