Union Investment has taken over the development of the Y-Towers ensemble in the north of Amsterdam. The modern building complex featuring two towers and covering a gross floor area of some 106,000m² spread over 33 floors and is being constructed next to the river in the fast-growing Overhoeks district. The hotel tower will accommodate a Maritim-branded conference hotel with 579 rooms. The scheme is expected to be the tallest building in Amsterdam. The neighbouring residential tower will comprise 174 apartments. The lower 10 floors of the tower will contain serviced apartments comprising 4,200m², and benefit from an underground car park for 605 vehicles. The project involves investing a total of approximately €460m and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2022. Union Investment is acquiring the project development company from IES Immobilien and Invester United Benefits. It will take forward the development project as part of the value-add strategy it adopted in 2018. IES Immobilien will continue to support the project as a partner.
“We recently set up a separate Value-Add team in Union Investment’s Real Estate segment so that we can expand our range of investment options in ever tighter core markets. We have also adopted a develop-to-core approach to take advantage of opportunities currently being offered by robust letting markets,” said Volker Noack, a member of the management team at Union Investment Real Estate.
“As part of our new value-add strategy, we have been able to secure a unique development project in the shape of Y-Towers. We successfully completed this off-market deal after a brief but very intense acquisition process and are open to further acquisitions with value-add potential,” said Monika Gerdes, head of the Value-Add team at Union Investment Real Estate. “Apart from the inner-city waterside location, what makes Y-Towers special is the opportunity it gives us to carry out a hotel development project of this size and create a residential tower that is not subject to rent controls.”
“The sale of our share in the project to Union Investment means that work on realising the Y-Towers development can now proceed,” said David Hofmann, managing director of IES Immobilien. “We are delighted that the new owner will continue to rely on our expertise, and we are also pleased with the successful transaction and with this proof of IES Immobilien’s ability as a developer – this time at international level.” Construction work is scheduled to resume at the beginning of 2020.
