From an office building of the tax authorities, to an apartment complex in one of the most beautiful spots in Emmen. It took a while, but today the first resident receives her key from project developer Jorgen Kruit. Construction workers are putting the dots on the i and in a month’s time all 82 rental properties will be occupied.
Zoë Schipper (24) from Buinen exits the elevator on her floor and takes out her ‘key’. “I can open the door in two ways: with a tag, but also with my phone. I don’t have an old-fashioned key.”
She can’t believe her happiness with the view from her living room. “Super cool,” she calls it. “You live here right in the center and you have a view of the Raadhuisplein. Shops are all nearby. You can’t find a better place.”
Many other people felt the same way when they registered as an interested party with Jorgen Kruit of the Zwolle real estate company Saxum & Firmum. All 82 apartments will be occupied next month: “We still have one option left, but then it will be really full. I am very proud of it”, beams the project developer from Emmen, when he peers into the sky from Raadhuisplein, at his completed apartment complex.
“This was offered to us in 2019 and we couldn’t pass it up. We bought it in 2020, completely cleaned it up and stripped it. We made the plans in consultation with the municipality and then renovated it,” says Kruit. The original intention was for the homes to be completed as early as March 2022, but construction was delayed due to, among other things, the removal of asbestos.
“In addition, the war in Ukraine caused delays in the delivery of materials and we were often short of hands, because the right professionals were not always available. In the end, it has to be done right,” says Kruit.
In Emmen and the surrounding area, the prominent building is known as the Tax Flat, because it was once built and intended as an office for the tax authorities. Secretly, Kruit and his colleagues thought of another name, such as De Schatkist, but still decided to leave it at the Belastingflat: “The floor covering is tax blue and we also painted the doors in that color, so it’s good. ” laughs the developer.
The last dots will be put on the i’s and crosses by about forty construction workers this month. Then all apartments will be habitable on March 1. Half of the bottom floor on the city floor has already been given a new destination: “There will be a commercial party in the form of a restaurant. The other part is still in the market for a catering destination.”
Schipper can’t wait to fully move into her brand new apartment. “In the summer you can hear the elephants,” Kruit tells her. When asked if she will take a subscription to the zoo, she replies: “I think so. Then I can take a walk there every now and then.”