ROC- RijnIJssel

Development of a sustainable school campus

A new school campus is being developed for ROC Rijn IJssel in the middle of the former AkzoNobel – ENKA site in the heart of Arnhem. The site, located at Velperweg 76 in Arnhem, was purchased by PingProperties in 2012 and comprises an area of 13.1 hectares with approx. 70,000 sqm of office and laboratory buildings and 850 parking spaces. PingProperties has made the development of the campus possible by letting the Witte Villa and part of the AkzoNobel tower. PingProperties had already sold two smaller assets on the site to ROC Rijn IJssel in 2018, paving the way for creating educational space totalling more than 26,000 sqm for ROC on the campus grounds.

The Witte Villa and four floors of the large AkzoNobel tower will be designed to accommodate the Creative Industry educational cluster and the central staff. For these departments ROC will rent 15,000 sqm of office and educational space, including 170 parking spaces, for a period of 30 years. The two other buildings, purchased by ROC in 2018, will accommodate the Technology and ICT clusters and the international transition class (ISK). For this purpose, one of the buildings will be extended by approx. 6,800 sqm. A schoolyard and bicycle parks will be created for all educational departments. The campus is already partially in use and will be fully operational for the start of the school year 2021/2022.

PingProperties saw the potential of this superb site, centrally located in Arnhem’s city centre. The development of the school campus has been made possible by cooperating closely with the municipality, the existing lessees AkzoNobel and Teijin Aramid, and ROC Rijn IJssel. This has enabled PingProperties to add value not only for its investors, but also for many other stakeholders. ROC Rijn IJssel is now able to cluster several educational departments on one campus  that is easy to reach for both staff and students. The Municipality of Arnhem will keep the largest educational institution at a single central location, close to the city centre. This is a major step in the city’s development of the area.

Area development
The creation of the ROC Rijn IJssel campus is part of a large-scale urban development in Arnhem, initiated and implemented by PingProperties. By gradually transforming a dated factory site into a multifunctional neighbourhood, the area is being given a new sustainable future. The future of this site is now one combining homes, work and education, which will transform it into a vibrant area of the city.

PingProperties has owned this site since 2012. In 2017 it sold 5 hectares of land to the KlokGroep/BPD consortium to develop a residential neighbourhood providing a high-quality living environment. Simultaneously signing the leases with ROC Rijn IJssel and Teijin Aramid marked the start of the new school campus development at the site. Following the transformation of a former laboratory building into the new and sustainable international head office of chemicals giant Teijin Aramid (2020), an educational function is now being added with the arrival of ROC Rijn IJssel.