The land and future property was acquired on behalf of Zurich Deutscher Herold in 2021 and construction was completed in January 2023. The De Baak building is a highly sustainable, energy-efficient residential tower boasting 127 apartments in Amsterdam’s mid-market segment, which is part of the affordable housing sector in the Netherlands.
The De Baak building is fully in line with Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich)’s ambitious sustainability targets as it combines a variety of sustainability solutions in its objectives to achieve an exceptionally good energy-savings level of -0.25 (EPC). With that, De Baak is not only sustainable in terms of its use of materials, but it also produces energy with solar panels on the roof and the balustrade of the building. Several features ensure a very low energy consumption, such as the highest quality insulation in the shell, triple glass with sun protection properties as well as an overlapping design of the balconies to provide shade. In addition, the building and the surrounding garden collect rainwater in order to reuse it. The building also offers car sharing, electric vehicle-charging stations and a large number of parking spaces for bicycles to enable tenants to commute sustainably.
The Zurich real-estate team is proud to offer urgently needed affordable apartments to families and others eligible for the mid-market segment, who could otherwise not afford to rent such a high-quality apartment in an attractive location close to the city center. This means the investment is in line with the social aspects of ESG (environment, social and governance) as well as with our environmental targets.
In addition, the De Baak building represents a low-risk investment with stable cash flow due to the increasing demand for affordable apartments in Amsterdam.
“This acquisition demonstrates Zurich’s strong commitment to sustainable investments in the real estate sector. We manage a EUR 14 billion real estate portfolio and aim to reduce the intensity of emissions of our direct real estate investments by 30 percent, in terms of kilograms of CO2e per square meter, until 2025. By 2050, the direct real estate portfolio aims be net-zero, meaning it no longer emits any CO2.”
Matthias Hübner, Head of Real Estate Europe at Zurich
Photo credit: © KondorWessels Vastgoed