Amsterdam to scrap a third of planned offices

Amsterdam intends to scrap one-third of planned office developments as almost 20% of existing offices in the city are vacant. But officials in the other major cities in the Randstad conurbation have indicated they don’t intend to follow suit.

Alderman Maarten van Poelgeest, responsible for planning in the Dutch capital, wrote to project managers and district councils in late September requesting they identify 1.2 mln m² of office space in development plans that can be replaced by housing and other construction projects.

This followed research indicating 18.5% of offices in Amsterdam were unoccupied at the beginning of 2006. City planners estimate the capital will — in the most favourable scenario — need a maximum of 1.5 mln m² of office space until 2030. There will soon be 4.5 mln m² of space available if all planned construction projects go ahead.

Van Poelgeest said many of the plans facing cancellation are still at the draft stage, but he conceded the city has already booked income from some of the developments. On the other hand, he said he did not anticipate damages claims from project developers as contracts had yet to be signed in most cases.

The green-left politician suggested that other cities in the Randstad region would likely follow suit. But planners and developers in the other three big Dutch cities told newspaper ‘Het Financieele Dagblad’ that their vacancy rates are lower as there has been less office construction outside Amsterdam in recent years. The percentage of unoccupied offices is estimated at 10% in Utrecht and 8.5% in The Hague.

The vacancy rate in Rotterdam is 14.5%, but the planning alderman said this was mainly due to old projects that have been earmarked for redevelopment as residential units. The port city is pressing ahead with ambitious plans totalling 1 mln m².

Chinese firms favour Europe

Europe is a more popular location than the US for Chinese companies seeking to expand abroad, according to a survey by international law firm Loyens & Loeff.

Chinese firms favour Europe

Europe is a more popular location than the US for Chinese companies seeking to expand abroad, according to a survey by international law firm Loyens & Loeff.

Tax lawyer Pieter Stalman of Loyens said the investment wave is growing. ‘It is going to develop very fast. The potential is enormous, but is being underestimated.’ Foreign investment is part of ongoing five-year plans in China and is supported politically. ‘The exploratory phase is over.’

The survey of foreign investment plans was conducted in conjunction with White and Case and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade at ‘China Abroad’ seminars in Peking and Shangai in May.

Of the 90 managers of medium-sized to large Chinese firms who took part in the poll, 81% indicated they were considering investing abroad, up from 61% in 2005.

Europe is the favoured location for expansion (60%) over the United States (43%) and Asia (29%). Within Europe, the preferred countries are Germany and the Netherlands (22%), followed by France (18%) and Belgium-Luxembourg (16%). Italy (12%) and the UK (11%) complete the list of top European countries favoured by Chinese investors.

Stalman said there is a growing awareness in the Netherlands of this outbound trend, and at present there are about 30 Chinese firms active in the Netherlands.

Chinese investors hope primarily to acquire distribution networks and access to new markets.

This combination of objectives was stated 59 times. Management expertise came in second place (27 respondents), followed by access to raw materials and natural resources (15 respondents).

Managers of Chinese companies investing abroad are keen for information on local company law (65 respondents) and tax planning (58 respondents), Stalman said.’

Almost half (48%) of the companies participating in the survey have more than 500 employees, while 61% have been established in China for more than 10 years.