‘Friends’ comes to Amstelveen!

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The US TV sitcom ‘Friends’ was a frontrunner when it came to coliving, so I am really pleased to share the news that Redevco is bringing the ‘Friends’ concept to Amstelveen with our Hollandse Meesters residential development. These apartments form part of a new complex at an old office location just 20 minutes away from Amsterdam and will provide high-quality sustainable homes in an area where there is a huge housing shortage.

The ‘Friends’ flats at Hollandse Meesters will offer homes for two people living together in modern and affordable accommodation with their own bed- and bathrooms as well as a communal kitchen and living room. The complex will also provide a further 172 rental apartments and 131 owner-occupied homes with the majority – or 65% – falling within the medium-priced rental and owner-occupier market segments.

What I really like about this project is that it offers a Dutch twist to a co-living concept that is already quite established in countries like the US, Australia and some other parts of the world. In addition, this redevelopment is going to give a former office location a new lease on life – and contribute to our diversification strategy and renewed focus on liveable and sustainable urban areas in Europe’s most attractive cities.

Amstelveen is not the only new residential addition to our portfolio in the Netherlands. We also recently announced that we have acquired the Porseleinen Toren(Porcelain Tower) in an up-and-coming district in the centre of the Dutch city Delft from developer Synchroon. This is another great example of affordable housing in one of the most densely populated parts of the country where there is also a massive shortage of high-quality rental accommodation. In fact, nowhere in the country is the housing shortage as acute as it is in Delft; the average shortfall here is even higher than in Amsterdam and Utrecht.

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The Porselein Toren is a 40-metre high, energy-efficient development comprising 85 rental apartments over 11 levels in a parklike environment and will become the centrepiece of Nieuw Delft, a sustainable neighbourhood being built on a site above a new tunnel created for an underground high-speed railway line. This aspect of the project makes it truly unique – the Dutch are famous for reclaiming land from the sea but now we are also creating new land in a very built-up area!

This new residential development in Delft is also an excellent example of the type of sustainable projects we are looking to invest in as we continue to diversify our portfolio. The Porselein Toren will use solar panels – like all the other homes in this green district in Delft – and an alternative energy source supplied by a fresh-air heat-exchange installation.

All in all, both these new residential developments will help us realise our goal of reaching a climate-neutral portfolio by 2040 and thus contribute to helping reduce global warming.

Fleur Abas