Dutch institutional investment manager Bouwinvest spent €627.5 mln on acquisitions in the Netherlands in 2014 amid a total global outlay of €1.16 bn.
Dutch institutional investment manager Bouwinvest spent €627.5 mln on acquisitions in the Netherlands in 2014 amid a total global outlay of €1.16 bn.
Bouwinvest finished the year strongly with the purchase of the World Trade Center in Rotterdam and the Citroën buildings in south Amsterdam. Market sources valued the WTC deal at €135 mln.
The two Citroën buildings have a combined area of 25,000 m2 and will be redeveloped for multifunctional office, retain and restaurant/café use. Work will begin after the European Athletics Championships in July 2016, which are being staged at the neighbouring Olympic Stadium.
Allard van Spaandonk, Bouwinvest’s director for the Netherlands, said: ‘The Netherlands has been memorably referred to as ‘the graveyard of European offices’ due its high vacancy rate, but these acquisitions show that there are flowers blooming among the headstones if you know where to look.’
Bouwinvest REIM manages five Dutch sector funds for institutional investors and has a total of €6.6 bn in assets under management.