Urban Industrial buys Groothandelsmarkt in Rotterdam

Urban Industrial is the new owner of Groothandelsmarkt (GHM) located at Rotterdam’s Spaanse Polder business park. Groothandelsmarkt was built in 1969 and purchased from the City of Rotterdam. Urban Industrial plans to transform the building into sustainable offices, doubling the 14,000 sq. m. of currently available office space. Once the work is complete, the future-proof new office building made of concrete, steel and glass will also include a roofed courtyard.

Groot Handelsmarkt is located on a 74,000 sq. m. trading estate and consists of multiple smaller markets. A variety of goods such as meats, fish, vegetables, fruit and flowers are traded here daily. The market is home to roughly 70 companies and 800 employees. The market’s total annual trade value is approximately €1.5 million. Groothandelsmarkt is very important to the hospitality industry, the retail sector, and other related business industries.The City has decided to sell GHM because the site and the offices are no longer a part of the City’s core real estate portfolio. New owner Urban Industrial plans to give Groothandelsmarkt both an economic and a physical boost and aims to develop Spaanse Polder.

Jan Brouns, Managing Partner at Urban Industrial: “We are happy that after the strategic purchases in Amsterdam and Utrecht, we are now also able to start work in Rotterdam by redeveloping Groothandelsmarkt. Our targets for this unique project and the City’s targets flow seamlessly into one another, so we look forward to a fruitful cooperation with the City and all other parties involved.”

Arthur Verkerk, Managing Partner at Urban Industrial: “This acquisition fits in perfectly with our long-term strategy. A number of elements come together that are of great interest to all of us, including industrial real estate, the food sector, a metropolitan environment, active management and value creation in the long term.”

Urban Industrial – an investment and funding platform for industrial real estate in the Netherlands – was advised by CBRE. Houthoff Buruma has provided the buyer with legal advice and Loyens & Loeff performed the tasks of a civil-law notary. Urban Industrial has found its perfect partner in the field of architecture in Dedato Designers and Architects.