Former Makro site in Machelen comes back to life with the arrival of Colos and Delhaize

If the huge turnout on the first day of opening is any indication, things are looking good for the former Makro site in Machelen, which will now be known as Vondel District. Colos and Delhaize are proving to be crowd-drawers.

A promising start

A full parking lot on Woluwelaan in Machelen—it’s been a long time since we’ve seen that. The public turned out in droves for the opening of Belgium’s largest home improvement store, spanning 20,000 m², and a sizeable supermarket covering 2,250 m². A promising start, then, for Vondel District—named after the Vondelgracht, which will be reopened to run right through this site.

Colos and Delhaize join McDonald’s, Colruyt Professionals, Solucious, and a gas station here. An Albert Heijn XL will also open this fall. For now, these stores are temporarily housed in the former Makro building; in about five years, they’ll be able to move into a modern, sustainable new building.

The first of six sites

“We’re deliberately rolling out this approach—first reopening the existing buildings within the existing permits, and only then carrying out the final redevelopment—across all six of our former Makro sites: four in Flanders, two in Wallonia. Machelen is the first site to go fully live today. The others will follow, with the goal of having the last site up and running by the second quarter of 2027,” says Dirk Deroose, CEO of project developer LCV Real Estate.

To achieve this, however, the investor will need to secure the support of local authorities. In Antwerp, where the former Makro site straddles the municipalities of Deurne and Wijnegem, the province is taking charge of the matter. According to Provincial Deputy Luk Lemmens, a rapid redevelopment is not on the horizon. A provincial spatial implementation plan must determine which uses will be permitted and under what conditions.