Meadow Herent Sold Out: From the Drawing Board to a New Neighborhood

From the site to a new residential neighborhood  

Anyone walking through Meadow today will see little evidence of the industrial site that once stood here. The site underwent a complete redevelopment and has evolved into a new residential neighborhood with thirteen buildings, 256 homes, and space for green areas, community gathering places, and local amenities. 

The selection was deliberately varied, ranging from compact apartments to spacious homes and penthouses. This created a mix that brings together different housing needs and life stages.

The surroundings were also part of the story from the very beginning. The buildings are situated around a green park area with walking paths and a jogging trail. Parking is largely underground, creating space above ground for a more car-free living environment.

With commercial spaces for shops and services, Meadow also gained an additional function for the neighborhood. The project thus became more than just a collection of new homes: it became a place to live, be active, meet others, and organize daily life.

A Project That Grew Through Collaboration

There is a long process behind a development like this. Even before the first home was sold, the various partners were already sitting down together.

BESIX RED and Vanhout Projects took on the development of the site. From an early stage, Living Stone provided input based on the local real estate market. Rather than having a single, fixed vision, they embarked on a collaborative exploration of what could work at this location.

What types of housing are a good fit for Herent? What does a good mix of housing look like? What sizes and layouts meet the demand? And how do you translate that into a project that is attractive, feasible, and market-oriented all at once?

Questions like those formed the basis for Meadow's further development.

Listening to the market throughout the entire process

With a project of this scale, the market changes along the way. What seemed like a logical choice a few years ago may need to be reevaluated later on.

That is why the market was not only analyzed at the outset. Throughout the various phases of Meadow, the partners continued to monitor developments. Feedback from prospective buyers, sales results, and changing housing needs provided new insights.

That interplay between development, market knowledge, and sales made it possible to make adjustments where necessary.

It may be less visible than the architecture or the park’s landscaping, but it is precisely that ongoing coordination that is important in a development that spans several years.

A location that brings many things together

The location also played an important role in Meadow’s story. The project is located in Herent, within walking distance of the train station and with easy access to Leuven and Brussels. The center of Leuven is also within cycling distance.

As a result, Meadow combines several qualities: the tranquility and greenery of a residential area outside the city, with proximity to an urban center and good transportation links.

That location was therefore a major asset in the project’s further development and positioning.

From Initial Plans to 256 New Homes

What began as a series of initial plans has now become a new residential neighborhood where hundreds of people have found a home. All of Meadow’s residential units have been sold out. This achievement is not the work of a single party. It is the result of years of collaboration between the developer, the construction partner, and the real estate partner, each of whom contributed their own expertise to the same project.

For Living Stone, Meadow is therefore above all an example of what can be achieved when real estate development and market knowledge come together early on. Not to retroactively create a commercial narrative for a project, but to make decisions together throughout the entire process.

A partnership that goes beyond sales

The sale of Meadow is a significant milestone, but perhaps even more important is what led up to it: years of consultation, sharing insights, reviewing results, and sometimes going back to the drawing board.

A new construction project of this scale simply requires more than just architecture, construction, and sales taken separately. The various components must work together and continue to evolve as the project progresses.

Meadow demonstrates what such a collaboration can achieve: a project that not only works on paper but ultimately grows into a real residential neighborhood.