The municipality of Assen buys the V&D building in the heart of the city and the north side of ‘t Forum, which has been vacant for years. The intention is to redevelop this dilapidated center location as quickly as possible. There will be homes and shops on the ground floor on the Koopmansplein side. The purchase would cost Assen about 15 million euros.
The purchase is still subject to absolute secrecy, because it must be officially approved by the council next week. But before the summer recess, the council members were updated during a secret meeting about the plans for purchase, and also about the redevelopment of the area.
But the secret deal suddenly came out of the blue during tonight’s council meeting. Then it turned out that millions for an open-air swimming pool was too great a risk for the municipal treasury’, group leader Jan Talens of Assen Centraal blurted out that next week the municipality ‘will also lose a large sum of money for the purchase of the V&D building.’ A comment that did not come out of the blue, according to sources.
Councilor Cor Staal (Christian Union) of spatial planning refuses further comment on the upcoming purchase. Although earlier this year he made no secret of his ‘desire to speed up the redevelopment of the V&D location’. This has been expected for years and the area is becoming increasingly degraded. If necessary, the municipality would want to get started with it itself, but then it would first have to acquire the location.
That option has been available since September. Then the Asser municipal council gave the green light for an extra 122 million euros, to speed up the Stadskwartier plan. This plan should provide 1,350 homes in and around the city center, including through the transformation of the V&D complex, ‘t Forum Noord and the Havenkwartier.
The money included an urban investment fund, intended for strategic purchases of locations, to keep redevelopments in our own hands and not be at the mercy of sullen real estate owners. Such an owner is Vastgoed Groningen BV, which has been procrastinating for years on tackling the V&D building and Forum Noord.
Apartments were built years ago on the southern part of ‘t Forum by the project developer. Vastgoed Groningen would then continue with the conversion of the V&D building into a residential complex. And housing would be built on the site of ‘t Forum Noord, including a high residential tower. But so far nothing has gotten off the ground. Assen now wants to do that himself. There are already sketches for it. It is still unknown when they will be released.
Next Thursday, the city council will decide, in secret, on the purchase of both locations.