Despite the Coronacrisis, we were able to add a large number of real estate projects to the portfolios of our clients. After all, the demand for affordable and future-proof property remains high. From mid-rental homes to care-related and mixed-use properties. Together with our partners in the construction and real estate industry, we continue to work on building attractive, sustainable cities. That is what a Stadspartner does: Meaningful Investing!
The new construction project Westbeat, on the corner of the Lelylaan and the Delflandlaan in Amsterdam Nieuw-West, was started in 2018. This multifunctional building was commissioned by Achmea Dutch Residential Fund (ADRF).
West Beat is the ‘new icon’, a building that will connect the district Nieuw-West with the area inside the A10 ring road – which was the express wish of the Municipality of Amsterdam when they awarded the project. Developer Lingotto and architect Studioninedots translated this wish into a multifunctional building with a large open space, a ‘Super Space’, designed to foster encounters between tenants, users and local residents. It is a ultra-sustainable building, with 150 apartments and a communal enclosed garden, approx. 3,500 m² of office space, hospitality and a podium in a spectacular plinth built on top of an underground car park with 117 parking spaces.
The monumental arches, the difference in level between the two streets it bridges and the special garden make Westbeat a real eye catcher. The combination of residential, working and leisure space makes Westbeat a great example of a mixed-use building, where the needs of residents and the users of the commercial spaces converge perfectly. This boosts social cohesion, both between the tenants and with local residents. This is enhanced with the community app that was recently introduced for Westbeat. With an EPC standard of -0.05 and the application of, for instance, green walls and solar panels, the building is extremely sustainable. The new attraction in Nieuw-West was delivered in October 2020.
Cooperation partners: Lingotto, Studioninedots and Heddes Bouw & Ontwikkeling.
The Remisehof, a very distinctive new construction project along the Laan op Zuid in Rotterdam-Zuid, is a collaboration between Stadsontwikkeling Rotterdam, architectural firm Powerhouse and landscape architect Delva.
VOF Remisehof, a partnership of Stevast Baas & Groen B.V. & Dura Vermeer Bouw Zuid West B.V, won the tender for the development of this unique hub between two worlds, ‘De kop van Zuid’ and the ‘Afrikaanderwijk’, in 2016 with Syntrus Achmea. In bygone days, this was the place where trams and buses would be waiting for their next departure, and where goods were transferred from ships onto trains. The area now comprises square urban building blocks with large communal gardens and private parking. In the immediate vicinity of the Remisehof, there are shops, schools, sports facilities and public transport to quickly travel to Rotterdam city centre.
The 137 apartments in the Remisehof, part of the Achmea Dutch Residential Fund (ADRF) portfolio, were delivered in June 2020. There are apartments in various sizes and lay-outs, which makes the Remisehof an attractive place to live for various target groups. One of the objectives of the project was to improve upward mobility from social housing. The result: 40% of new residents come from the surrounding districts, such as the Afrikaanderwijk. They usually come from social housing, which then becomes available again for those who need it.
Cooperation partners: Stevast Baas & Groen, Powerhouse Company, Dura Vermeer.
Until quite recently, this comfortable residential building, with rental apartments varying from 40 to 150 square metres in size, was a stately office building. The first part of the redevelopment of The David in Amsterdam Nieuw-West was delivered to clients BPL and ADRF in October 2020. The last part will be ready in January 2021.
The David, of which one part consists of six floors and another part of thirteen floors, comprises 365 rental apartments, varying in size from small studio apartments to spacious three-bedroom apartments and a number of penthouses. All apartments have their own outdoor space and most have a storage room. The building has two commercial spaces on the ground floor and an underground car park, with 201 parking spaces for cars and room to park bicycles. There is an indoor garden on the second floor and a terraced area along the water that surrounds the building. A Service App has been introduced for the tenants and there is a caretaker on site. The building is close to public transport, with a metro station within walking distance.
The IBM Dynatos building dates from 2003 and has been developed by the American architect William McDonough as a circular office based on the ‘cradle-to-cradle’ principle. The building has been transformed in a sustainable method, in line with the original design. An effort was made to recycle as much of the existing materials as possible, such as the marble floor, lifts, stairwells and window frames in the central entrance. The apartments are connected to the district heating system, eliminating the need for a gas connection. What makes this building extra special, is that two extra residential floors were added, making optimum use of the transformation.
The building is situated in the Schinkelkwartier, the most southern part of Amsterdam Nieuw-West. The area has great upward potential with the addition of even more housing. The ambitious area development which this transformation project is a part of and the variation in the types of apartments on offer, makes this an excellent long-term investment for Dutch pension funds.
Cooperation partners: Koopmans Bouwgroep B.V., Flow Egeria.
Syntrus Achmea realised 230 rental apartments at the former Nederlandse Pakket Dienst site in the Utrecht district Overvecht for pension fund PME and care real estate fund Achmea Dutch Health Care Property Fund (ADHCPF).
This building, located along the Brailledreef, next to the Overvecht shopping mall, used to be the sorting centre for the parcel delivery company Nederlandse Pakket Dienst (NPD) for years. At the end of May 2017, project developer AM won the tender for the empty plot. The design plans for the former NPD site comprise three residential towers with 334 apartments for senior and first-time tenants, mainly in the mid-range segment, and a residential tower with approx. 630 student apartments. Two of the residential towers are part of the Syntrus Achmea portfolio: one for the pension fund PME and one for ADHCPF. The PME building has 112 apartments with an average size of 70 m2 plus a commercial space of 315 m2. The care real estate fund’s building has 94 ‘homes for life’, varying from 44 to 86 m2 in size, one commercial space of 655 m2 and a 1,395 m2 atrium. In addition, three group apartments were realised, with a total of 24 rooms for older residents with dementia, with are rented out to a care facility. 30 apartments are rented out to Stichting Veste, which provides assisted living facilities to (young) adults with autism.
All the apartments are ultra-energy-efficient, due to a collective heat/cold storage system, connected to solar panels on the roofs and individual heat pumps. This results in an EPC standard of -0.02 and a GPR of 8.50. At later stage, a number of electrical car-sharing cars might become available for tenants.
Cooperation partner: AM.
The redevelopment of the gateway to Leiden, the Station Zone, was started in 2016. This important route from the Central Station to the city centre was not a good reflection of the picturesque city. Enough reason for the Municipality of Leiden to embark on a multi-year phased redevelopment project to transform the Station Zone into an attractive and bustling area, with the added ambition of turning it into the greenest kilometre of the Netherlands.
Lorentz Phase 1 was delivered in April 2020 and is the first new construction project in the redevelopment of the Station Zone. It was realised in close collaboration between Hurks, Van Wijnen, the Municipality of Leiden and Syntrus Achmea. The unique mixed-use object has a total floor space of approx. 20,000 m² (excl. underground car and bicycle parking) and comprises, among other things, a four-storey dark-coloured plinth-level building, with room for shops, offices, hospitality, parking for cars and room for 4,800 bicycles. The plinth-level building is topped with two towers, housing 167 rental apartments. All of the apartments have now been rented out. The offices and a large part of the hospitality spaces in the plinth have been leased out to Heineken Nederland on long-year contracts. What makes this project so special is that Syntrus Achmea has, in collaboration with the Municipality of Leiden, dedicated 28 studios in the building to essential workers.
The Lorentz was designed in accordance with the BREEAM Very Good certificate, with a rating of 63.4% for the offices. BREEAM is the best instrument to measure and assess the sustainability of new and existing buildings, areas and demolition projects. Examples of the energy-saving measures applied in the Lorentz are solar panels, a retention roof, energy-efficient lifts and a hot/cold storage system. The water storage system is truly unique; retention crates create a large water buffer on one of the tower roofs. The buffer discharge is fitted with a Smart Flow Control, a smart system that can discharge the water in a controlled manner in the event of a downpour. This water buffer is used, among other things, to fill up the watering system of the green roof on a lower floor, and relieves the municipal sewerage system. It is the first time that this combination of systems has been realised in the Netherlands.
This explains why the Station Zone can honestly be called the ‘Greenest Kilometre of the Netherlands’. Businesses, local authorities, residents and knowledge institutions work together to transform this area into the greenest piece of urban development in the Netherlands before 2025. 29 organisations have already joined this community and signed the Green Deal.
Cooperation partners: Hurks, Van Wijnen Projectontwikkeling and the Municipality of Leiden.
Interested in our other projects and in the different investment opportunities? Contact us!
