ABN Amro Bank is to re-launch its real estate financing activities after a years-long absence from the market. The lending arm will draw on the existing expertise within the bank and that of its merger partner Fortis Bank.
ABN Amro Bank is to re-launch its real estate financing activities after a years-long absence from the market. The lending arm will draw on the existing expertise within the bank and that of its merger partner Fortis Bank.
The new unit will initially focus on the Dutch market, Eric Steinmaier, sector banker construction and real estate at ABN Amro, told PropertyEU in an interview. Steinmaier will develop the financing activities together with Robert van Deelen of Fortis Bank and Axel Sibmacher van Nooten, corporate and investment banker at ABN Amro. The team will be headed by Jaap Kalverkamp, director of corporate and investment banking at ABN Amro.
The team aims to build up the bank's property financing portfolio by cultivating its existing client network. 'Our focus has always been on developing deep and long-term relationships,' Sibmacher van Nooten said. 'We will not be judged at the end of the year on the volume of loans issued. Growth for growth's sake is not what we're about. We want to be a bank for our clients, contributing to their returns and strategic choices in the long term.'
According to Steinmaier, the future for real estate developers lies in sustainable development. Developers should focus on tackling vacant properties by replacing them with new builds or redeveloping them rather than developing from scratch, he said. In the Netherlands, demand for office space in the financial services sector had peaked and is set to decline in 2010 and in the long term. The government has a role to play in facilitating replacement and re-developemt activities, Steinmaier stressed.