NovaCity II: 117 subsidised housing units in the Trèfles district (Anderlecht)

Permit issued: 117 housing units, retail space and parking (14 July 2026)

On 14 July 2026, citydev.brussels announced the issuance of the permit for NovaCity II, the second phase of a mixed-use real estate programme located in the Trèfles district, between rue des Trèfles and chaussée de Mons, in the south of Anderlecht, near CERIA/COOVI metro station (line 5).

The project includes 117 subsidised housing units at reduced prices, flexible retail spaces covering 1,146 sqm, a municipal community outpost for Anderlecht, community association premises, an underground parking with 155 spaces, secure storage for bicycles and strollers, shared gardens, and a geothermal heat pump system, free of fossil fuel, complemented by solar panels. According to citydev.brussels, the housing units, spread across four lots, will all be passive and dual-aspect, each with a private terrace of at least 7.5 sqm, and almost all accessible or adaptable for people with reduced mobility.

The developer selected by citydev.brussels for this phase is Eiffage Real Estate Belgium S.A., working with architecture firms POLO.Architecture and Espace Architectes, and landscape architect CD Plus. The project also includes a new T-shaped public street crossing the site and a new public square at the junction with chaussée de Mons, along with a net-zero-energy housing target.

Two separate procedures. The project involved two permits: a planning permit, issued by the Region (application filed in April 2024, approval estimated for May 2026 according to citydev.brussels), and an environmental permit for the operation of a class IB establishment (PE 80/2024), issued by the municipality of Anderlecht. Both procedures rely on the same public inquiry and the same opinion from the consultation committee (see next section).

Sources: BRUZZ (14 July 2026), L'Avenir (15 July 2026), La DH/Les Sports+ (15 July 2026), official file PE 80/2024. Confidence: official (citydev.brussels announcement, official permit file).

Public inquiry and consultation: no opposition found (2025)

The official environmental permit file (PE 80/2024, handled by the municipality of Anderlecht based on a request forwarded by Bruxelles Environnement, ref. 01/IPE/1942066) documents the course of the citizen consultation procedure prior to the permit:

• Report of 23 June 2025 closing the public inquiry: the official text states that it "found no opposition from neighbours".
• Favourable opinion from the consultation committee of 3 July 2025, based in particular on the project's compliance with the regional land-use plan and with the "CITYDEV.BRUSSELS" subdivision permit of 7 June 2018 (PL636879 - 01/LPFD/621051), which sets the urban planning framework (siting, building envelopes, depths) within which NovaCity II falls.

The file specifies that the application covers the demolition of a house with a warehouse and the construction of new buildings on lots 1 to 4 of the subdivision permit, for 117 housing units, retail space, a collective facility and 155 parking spaces.

Based on this official document, BGM found no documented trace of opposition or contestation from neighbours specifically concerning NovaCity II, unlike other planning dossiers tracked elsewhere (see for instance the Montgomery roundabout mobility dossier). A local neighbourhood committee exists (Comité des Trèfles); its website could not be consulted at the time this dossier was written to check whether it expresses an additional view.

Source: Official file PE 80/2024, Anderlecht municipal administration, Environmental Permits Department. Confidence: official (primary administrative document).

Construction timeline: not yet announced

A citydev.brussels press release from 31 May 2023, announcing the award of the development contract to Eiffage Development S.A. for what was then counted as 118 housing units, projected a construction start of "early 2025". That initial schedule was not met: according to Le Soir, citing citydev.brussels on 15 July 2026, the construction start date has not yet been announced. BGM reports this delay rather than repeating an estimate that has not been confirmed by the project lead.

Sources: citydev.brussels, contract award (31 May 2023), Le Soir (15 July 2026). Confidence: official (direct citydev.brussels announcements).

Background: NovaCity I, the first phase

NovaCity II continues a programme whose first phase, NovaCity I, was delivered in 2022 on the southern part of the same 2-hectare site (rue des Trèfles, chaussée de Mons, railway line). It comprises 63 housing units, mostly subsidised, stacked above roughly 7,800 sqm of workshop space for SMEs organised into flexible modules. NovaCity I received first prize at the 2023 Publica Awards (Urban Development, Infrastructure & Mobility category) and was shortlisted for the 2023 Brussels Architecture Prize.

Source: DH (13 December 2022). Confidence: unconfirmed (press report).

Issues to watch

• Construction: announcement of the actual start date of the works, not yet communicated at this stage
• Mobility: impact of the 155-space parking and the traffic it generates on the neighbourhood, right next to CERIA/COOVI metro station
• Housing: monitoring of the effective letting/sale of the 117 subsidised housing units, in a context of more than 62,000 households on the waiting list for social housing in Brussels (see the SLRB dossier)