The Catella European Residential III Fund (CER III) has acquired the redeveloped Ceylonpoort office tower in Haarlem, near Amsterdam, for €65 mln.
The former premises of publisher VNU will be extensively refurbished into a residential tower to meet the requirements of a Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) under the EU directive on the sustainable energy performance of real estate.
The installation of a geothermal heat pump beneath the property as well as solar panels on the roof, will provide most of the energy required by the building and its tenants. Together with a new, more energy-efficient façade, this will result in very low energy bills for residents.
Located on the Amerikaweg, close to Haarlem’s city centre, in the district of Schalkwijk, the tower will accommodate 162 apartments, commercial space totaling 536 m2, and a three-level parking garage for residents.
The Ceylonpoort Tower was acquired from developer Wedda, an affiliate of Egeria Real Estate Investment, in partnership with Going Dutch Development, by Maastricht-based Catella Investment Management Benelux (CIMB) on behalf of CER III. The impact fund is managed by Berlin-based Catella Residential Investment Management (CRIM).
Paul van Stiphout, fund manager at Catella Residential Investment Management (CRIM), said: 'Our CER III Fund is pursuing a longer-term pan-European strategy of investing in high-quality, well-located residential assets with strong ESG credentials.
'This investment is an ambitious conversion play from a redundant office to a much-needed affordable residential complex with the highest possible level of sustainability. Supply of housing in the mid-range rental segment remains scarce across the Netherlands, particularly in cities in the western part of the country where the majority of the population lives.
'This property ticks all the boxes in terms of sustainability, affordability and social impact and will be a strong contributor to the Fund’s overall performance.'
During the transformation of the Ceylonpoort, an estimated 142 kg of CO2 per m2 will be released in the refurbishment, which is dramatically lower than the average 505 CO2 kg/m2 emitted in the construction of a comparable newly built residential building.
This also places the sustainability of the Ceylonpoort project within the threshold of 220 CO2 kg/m2, which is required to conform with the target of the Paris agreement on climate change aimed at limiting the rise in global warming to less than two degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels by 2050.
CBRE and Dudok Legal advised the vendor Wedda in the transaction. The buyer was assisted by Resi and Loyens Loeff.
