A joint venture between APF International and Angelo, Gordon & Co. purchased the vacant, dated office building late 2015 for around €14 million. The objective was to turn it into a high-end and sustainable (BREEAM Very Good) office building. In accordance with the purchasing objective, the joint venture leased the building, following a considerable renovation, to software company Oracle for its “Cloud Centre” and sold it to TH Real Estate for over €53 million.
Nieuwevaart 5-9 has a long history filled with renovations. The building measures around 6,300 m², was built in 1880 and served as a warehouse for the Blauwhoedenveem company. The original construction consisted of cast iron columns with wooden girders supporting a layer of heavy beams which is still visible on the ground floor and the first floor. A fire in the 50s destroyed the original upper floors which had to be rebuilt. These floors consist of steel columns with girders and in-situ concrete floors. Originally, these were three separate warehouses that were joined together at a later stage.
Originally, the warehouses served to store resources received via the adjacent Nieuwevaart waterway. Following the fire in the 50s, the premise was reconstructed to fulfil its new role as a home to the Maritime Academy. In addition to the renovation of the upper floors, the façade was replaced in its entirety as well. In the 90s, the building was reassigned once again to become a municipal office. This involved another interior renovation as well as the realisation of an atrium and another replacement of the entire façade.
In 2015, the municipality left the office and the building was purchased by APF International and Angelo Gordon. Upon acquisition by the joint venture, it was decided to replace the façade once again in 2016 in order to increase the amount of natural light. Because the atrium was closed up again and all installations were replaced, high-quality, large floor surfaces emerged. APF hired Cruz y Ortiz Architectos (whose high-profile portfolio includes the Rijksmuseum) to design the façade. These interventions led to the creation of 6.240 m2 of leasable surface spread across 5 floors. Since the acquisition of the building, APF has been conducting discussions with the municipality, in collaboration with Peak Development and parallel to the redevelopment of the existing building, with regards to a possible expansion of the building by one additional floor. This is intended to meet the increasing demand for centrally located, high-quality office space.
The building is located in the buffer zone of the canal belt, which is a world heritage site. For that reason, the municipality and the Aesthetics Committee kept a close eye on the design to ensure it would be a good fit for the Amsterdam city centre area. To prevent this process from causing delays to construction, work on the interior was covered by a separate permit while work on the façade would wait for the façade permit. This allowed for construction activities to begin several months earlier.
After the building has been purchased at risk, a long term rental contact has been agreed with tenant Oracle. On 1 September 2017, the American software company Oracle moved to its new “Cloud Center” for its Western European sales office. The building now employs approximately 400 people. Since Oracle took the building into use in September 2017, a substantial period of elaboration and planning was required to arrive at an action plan in which the tenant can be operational during the realisation of the extra floor with minimal impact on its business operations.
This has resulted in a very inventive construction logistics plan. The construction of the additional floor was started in April 2019 by the contractor Goossen in Pas Bouw. Completion to tenant is planned in December 2019.
In accordance with the objective at the time of purchase, the joint venture sold the building to TH Real Estate for more than €53 million after a substantial renovation plan.
Investment management by APF International is characterized by a proactive and committed approach. We combine data and insight of the current market with commercial instinct....
Future-proof real estate, where people like to live, work and meet each other. With that in mind, we (re)develop buildings..
..
APF regularly initiates real estate funds in which private individuals can participate....