ASR tower in Netherlands sells for EUR 83m

The provincial authority for the Utrecht region in the Netherlands has backed a longstanding proposal to acquire the headquarters of insurance group ASR. The investment volume comes to EUR 82.7 mln.

DTZ Zaddelhoff, which advised the buyer, said the provincial authority will take ownership of the 31,000 m² building located in the Rijnsweerd office park in the city of Utrecht next year.

The authority will use about 70% of the space with the rest being occupied by Fortis Bank (Nederland) on a long-term lease. DTZ also acted for the provincial authority in the negotiations to lease the 9,000 m² to Fortis.

The office property was previously known as Fortis Tower as it was the headquarters of the Dutch insurance arm of Fortis bank before it began operating independently as ASR.

This is the second large transaction in the Netherlands in recent days where the buyer acquired a building for its own use rather than as a pure investment.

Last week it was reported that Aegon, another major Dutch insurance group, had acquired its headquarters from property group Unibail-Rodamco for about EUR 120 mln. Neither party would comment on the reported transaction.