French insurer AXA and Danish pension fund ATP have teamed up to forward-fund the development in Amsterdam of what is being billed as the largest hotel in the Benelux.
AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets (AXA IMRA) has completed the forward-funding of the Nhow Amsterdam RAI through a 50/50 joint venture between ATP, Denmark's largest pension fund, and AXA Insurance Companies. The investment volume was not disclosed.
The vendor was Dutch real estate developer COD, which is developing the project jointly with Being Development.
Nhow Amsterdam RAI will offer 650 rooms next to the RAI conference and events centre in Amsterdam's Zuidas (South Axis) business district.
The 4-star premium lifestyle hotel has been designed by OMA, the architecture firm founded by Rem Koolhaas. The hotel will also feature conference facilities, a wellness centre, skybar & restaurant, a TV studio and parking garage. Construction started in September 2016, and the completion of what will be Benelux’s largest hotel by number of rooms is expected in the second half of 2019.
The hotel will be operated by Nhow, part of the NH Hotel Group, who has signed a pre-let on a long-term lease.
Exhibition centre
AXA IMRA said that Nhow Amsterdam RAI Hotel will become an international hub for business and leisure travellers.
It will benefit, according to the buyers, from its location in Amsterdam’s main business district of Zuidas and the World Trade Center, and will be the official hotel of choice for the adjacent RAI Expo Centre, the city's largest corporate exhibition centre and one of the largest such facilities in Europe.
The hotel will be located nine minutes by train to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and will further benefit from the opening of the North-South metro line, due to open in 2018.
This latest acquisition further adds to AXA IM - Real Assets' €2.6 bn portfolio of over 80 hotels, across eight countries, that it manages on behalf of clients.
ATP Real Estate entered the hospitality sector in January 2016, when it formed a joint venture with AXA IMRA to acquire two Club Quarters hotels in the City of London for €240 mln.
Commenting on the Amsterdam deal, Michael Nielsen, CEO of ATP Real Estate, said: 'It is an ideal location to build a large-scale and high-quality hotel, that is attractive to both corporate and leisure guests, alongside an operator who has established a market-leading reputation managing hotels across the region.'
