NETHERLANDS – MN Services says it is set to deliver a major real estate development project in the Netherlands for the Pension Fund for Metalworking and Mechanical Engineering.

The four-and-a-half-year project in the town of Berkel entailed the building of 194 new houses, which all have been rented already.

The total project will be finished at the end of this month when the last 30 apartments are delivered to customers.

According to spokeswoman Ellen Twickler, the project started in 2001, with the construction of 44 family homes.

MN Services is at present the third largest pension administrator in the Netherlands, with a total investment portfolio of €30bn.

It has some €1.5bn in Dutch real estate and around €2bn in direct and indirect international real estate.

Last month MN Services said it was looking for partnerships in the real estate sector. The admission came after a series of real estate executives left the firm earlier this year.

“We’re also looking for partnerships,” said chairman Ruud Hagendijk. Names mentioned included such rivals as Haarlem-based Altera Vastgoed and Achmea.

“Everybody’s talking with each other,” Hagendijk said in an interview – adding that all the players “face the same challenges”.