The Hague may want to buy into Fellenoord, the development company that is to direct the construction of the new city district, north of Eindhoven Central. It offers opportunities for the area development around the station, but on the other hand the municipality may lose some of its say.
Tens of millions of euros worth of real estate have already been purchased at Fellenoord and given that the municipality has established preferential rights on other properties, other purchases may follow in the future.
The plans that the municipality has for the buildings are not yet clear. For example, it is still unknown whether the buildings are suitable for conversion into apartment complexes or whether they must be demolished for new construction. Nevertheless, the municipal policy seems to be paying off. At least that is evident from the interest of the government to become a shareholder in Fellenoord BV (Ltd., ed). Something that according to alderperson Stijn Steenbakkers is ‘a great opportunity.’
Promising
“The government sees that the way of working together and area development in Fellenoord Ltd. is promising. For us that is a compliment, it would be unique if the government wants to participate in the development company. That could mean that extra money becomes available for the redevelopment of the Fellenoord area.”
How much money would be involved in joining is not clear. The municipality of Eindhoven and the province of Noord-Brabant have each invested 13 million euros in the company and that has been supplemented with tens of millions in government subsidies. How much the government would have to contribute is still unknown. But from a purely financial perspective, it seems like a favourable development.
Takeover
“The company is mainly concerned with the development of the area. It was started this year and is now slowly becoming visible, but in the future the development company will come more to the fore,” says Steenbakkers.
“The intention is that if we really start taking steps in the development of this new urban district, the development company will, for example, take over real estate objects from the municipality of Eindhoven.”
Impulse
Steenbakkers’ enthusiasm about the possible accession is therefore understandable. The company is necessary for the development of a city district with many social housing units, so that there is room in the city centre for more people than just the happy few. But where on the one hand a financial boost beckons, at the same time the municipality of Eindhoven and the province of Noord-Brabant are in danger of losing some say. And the question is whether that can ensure that compromises must be made about the current social ambitions of the city council.
Council questions
In the Eindhoven city council, the news about the interest of the central government has raised questions about the possible consequences of The Hague’s accession on the city council’s say.
Coalition parties PvdA and GroenLinks believe that the city council’s say should never fall below fifty percent, for fear that if the municipality allows itself to be bought out in part, it will lose control. In a scenario in which Eindhoven only has a third of the shares of Fellenoord Ltd., private parties could also buy in if the government and the province give permission for this. The coalition factions want to prevent this at all costs.
Commercial
How the city government views the situation is not known. “The main thing is that we have the ambition to let corporations take the lead in the development of municipal properties in the area,” says Steenbakkers. “At the same time, commercial developers will also play a role.”
Steenbakkers does not dare to make a statement about how these roles are divided. The city needs commercial investors. This is also evidenced by the presence of Steenbakkers – together with other alderpersond from three large Dutch cities – at a large real estate fair in Munich.
“The investment climate in the Netherlands has changed due to regulations,” says Steenbakkers. “That is why we went to Munich, to show that the Netherlands and specifically the Brainport region still offer great opportunities for investors. Fortunately, we also see that commercial real estate developers still know how to find Eindhoven,” says Steenbakkers.
Source: www.studio040.nl
Translated by Yawar Abbas
