The Maison de l’Innovation will retain its name. It will ‘only’ lose one of its key components: the national agency responsible for bridging the gap between research and business. This is because Luxinnovation is preparing to leave Belval in the first quarter of 2027, most likely towards the end of March. The agency will move into the former LuxDev offices, situated on the corner of Rue de la Grève and Rue Sainte-Zithe, in Luxembourg City.
Taken in isolation, the move looks like a routine property transaction. Luxinnovation is growing, but the Maison de l’Innovation is not keeping pace. The agency is aiming for a workforce of 125 by the end of 2026. Its current premises have become too small to accommodate this increase in staff numbers.
Luxinnovation’s success has thus ultimately driven it out of the very building that bears the name of its mission. The irony might almost be amusing were it not for the fact that it clashes with a much older political promise.
In 2015, Luxinnovation left Kirchberg to move into the Maison de l’Innovation, situated between the two blast furnaces at Belval. This move was not merely a response to a need for office space. It was also intended to give a physical manifestation to the City of Science, Research and Innovation envisaged by the government on the former steelworks brownfield sites.
The idea was simple: to bring together in one place the University of Luxembourg, the public research centres, the agency responsible for supporting innovation and, gradually, the companies capable of transforming scientific research into economic activity. Geographical proximity was intended to foster the encounters, collaborations and projects that administrative structures alone cannot bring about. This never really happened; the research centres and the University of Luxembourg’s business incubator have continued to nurture a potential entrepreneurial ecosystem, yet there has not always been a strong sense of support, even as we invest in the third round of the Future Fund or €10m in Mistral AI.
A pragmatic… and revealing return to Luxembourg
The Maison de l’Innovation was intended to play a special role within this complex. When it opened, it primarily housed the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Luxinnovation and the DeWidong Centre for Continuing Professional Development. The List remains its main occupant. DeWidong is still based there, and a number of organisations linked to this sector are also based there. Luxinnovation’s departure will therefore not leave the building empty. It will, however, remove the organisation responsible for linking the scientific expertise that remains there with the businesses that need to make use of it.
Twelve years after it first moved in, Luxinnovation needs to expand. The agency could have looked for more space in Belval, but it opted to return to Luxembourg City.
The lack of square metres does not explain everything. This decision was also intended to enable it to be closer to its key stakeholders and the majority of its corporate clients. The National Innovation Agency therefore considers it more practical to return to the capital in order to remain in contact with those it serves.
This is where moving office goes beyond just a simple office move.
Whilst the clients, institutional partners and decision-makers on whom Luxinnovation relies on a daily basis remain mainly concentrated in Luxembourg City, the agency’s move to Belval has not been enough to shift the country’s economic centre of gravity. The government has relocated institutions to the south. However, it has not necessarily shifted the power networks, businesses and professional practices along with them.
A movement that feeds off its own irony
Luxinnovation can hardly be held responsible for this situation. An agency that supports businesses must remain accessible to them. Its relocation is less a mistake than a diagnosis. After more than a decade in the spotlight of national research and innovation policy, it has chosen a location that reflects the reality of its operations rather than one that fitted the narrative of regional planning.
The move back is not, however, a complete return. Luxinnovation will not be returning to Kirchberg, where it was based before 2015. Its future offices will remain in the station district, close to public transport and just a few minutes from the city centre. The agency will, however, be significantly closer to the country’s administrative and economic heart.
The property dynamics that have made this return possible are somewhat ironic. LuxDev vacated its offices on Rue de la Grève on 8 June 2026 to establish its headquarters at Connex Plaza, 49–51 Avenue de la Gare. In its press release, the cooperation agency described its new five-storey building as better suited to its development and the running of its operations. It also highlighted a modern, collaborative environment designed to foster dialogue and innovation.
LuxDev had 706 staff members worldwide at the end of 2025, according to its latest annual report. Of these, 88 were based at the Luxembourg head office and 618 at its overseas offices and projects. The premises vacated on Rue de la Grève therefore accommodated a significantly smaller team than the 125 staff targeted by Luxinnovation: a difference of 37 people, or 42%. This comparison alone does not allow us to gauge the building’s capacity. It does, however, raise a further question regarding the layout chosen by Luxinnovation: will all 125 staff members be based at this address, and what work will be required to adapt offices vacated by an organisation of 88 people?
Le List, the University of Luxembourg and the other public bodies based on the campus will continue to provide the Cité des sciences with considerable scientific clout. Luxinnovation’s relocation does not, therefore, signal the failure of Belval as a whole, but it does undermine one of its founding principles: to make the physical proximity of research, innovation and businesses a driving force for economic diversification. A bridge can function from a distance. It can also recognise that the other bank has remained in Luxembourg City.
