Pension fund ABP has increased its stake in residential investor Vesteda. The investment by APG's pension fund customer made it possible for Vesteda to purchase the Zuiderhof project in Rotterdam. The homes will be rented with priority to candidates with a social profession, such as teachers, police officers and healthcare workers.
The Zuiderhof project in South Rotterdam consists of 160 two-, three- and four-room apartments, ranging from 48 to 112 square meters. According to the current planning, these mid-rental and private sector apartments will be rented out in 2026. The rental prices are between 808 and 1,075 euros (2023 price level). The project could be purchased thanks to the additional investment that APG made in Vesteda on behalf of ABP. What is unique about it is that the apartments are rented with priority to candidates with a social profession, including teachers, police officers and healthcare workers, whose pension is placed with ABP. “With this transaction we further realize ABP's ambitions to make a positive contribution to solving the shortage of housing in the Netherlands in the affordable segment. The priority of allocating homes to people with a social profession is an additional positive element of this investment,” says Robert-Jan Foortse, Head of European Real Estate at APG.
Attractive long-term investment
Harmen van Wijnen, chairman of ABP, speaks of an attractive long-term investment that pays off in a good pension and housing for ABP participants. “The Netherlands has a housing shortage and our participants also experience this. Through our additional investment in Vesteda, we are creating affordable rental properties, where our participants are given priority.”
Construction will start next Wednesday
Construction will start next Wednesday, on the day of the elections in the Netherlands. Then Chantal Zeegers, together with representatives of ABP (Harmen van Wijnen) and Dura Vermeer, among others, will drive the first pile for the construction of 160 rental homes in Het Zuiderhof in Rotterdam.