PingProperties acquires De Lairesse & Valerius office buildings in Amsterdam Oud-Zuid

03-12-2024

PingProperties recently acquired the De Lairesse & Valerius office buildings in Amsterdam Oud-Zuid on behalf of PingProperties Amsterdam Office Fund I C.V. The two linked office buildings with fully automatic underground car park are prominently located at the well-known De Lairessestraat and Valeriusplein in Amsterdam Oud-Zuid, a residential area combined with work and leisure. This popular urban district is situated between the Zuidas en the canal ring (city centre), two of the main office markets in Amsterdam.

The complex comprises a total floor area of approx. 4,445 m² LFA and 56 parking spaces in the underground car park. De Lairesse, which was built in 1930, has a floor area of 3,522 m² LFA and an underground car park. The main tenant of this building is DC Klinieken with 2,035 m² LFA. The Valerius building has a floor area of 918 m² LFA. Both buildings were designed in the ‘Amsterdam School’ style of architecture and are nationally listed buildings.

History
De Lairesse was built in 1930 by architect B.T. Boeyinga for the Chemistry Faculty of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) and was used by the university until the faculty moved to Buitenveldert in 1970. The Valerius building, built in 1916 and also used as a laboratory, was named after the Dutch poet and composer Adriaen Valerius. The building was designed by the architects Th. Groenendijk and Th. J. Lammers under the auspices of the ‘Vereeniging voor Hooger Onderwijs op Gereformeerde Grondslag’.

Acquisition Strategy
PingProperties sees great potential in the building complex by setting a market rent level, optimizing the rent of the underground car park and filling the vacant space. At the moment, nearly half of the De Lairesse building (approx. 1,539 LFA), is still vacant, which means that there is still much value to be added. PingProperties has every confidence that this building will be fully let in the near future. The letting strategy will focus on creating long-term, highly stable cash-flow with an emphasis on offices in the healthcare sector.
The vacant spaces will be thoroughly renovated and renewed before letting. This is part of the investment programme to lift the complex to a higher sustainability level, with the ambition of achieving energy label A++ and a BREEAM Excellent certification, while respecting the historic character of the building.

Sander Rovers (Investment Manager – PingProperties): ‘The opportunity to purchase and revitalize a historic complex as this in one of the most beautiful districts of Amsterdam has always been my dream. We will be vastly improving the buildings’ sustainability performance while respecting their architecture. In addition, the thematic letting strategy enables us to create a fantastic, defensive investment, with an emphasis on care, a still somewhat neglected but extremely attractive and growing asset class. Opportunities to acquire buildings such as these are rare, but I hope to be able to purchase other projects in Amsterdam in the coming year.’

In this transaction PingProperties was advised by DRS Makelaars, Loyens & Loeff (legal advice) and RechtStaete (tax advice). Bouwinvest was advised by CMS. Deutsche Hypo (part of NORD/LB) provided the acquisition funding.