The Amstelveen council will decide today on the construction of a thousand additional homes on the edge of the Middenhoven district. A welcome development in times of an acute housing shortage, but the death knell for the enjoyment of living in the district, residents fear. They do not want high residential complexes in ‘their backyard’.
“Normally it is wonderful to stay here in my garden,” Ted Dijkman, who lives at the Bouwmeester in Middenhoven, tells NH News. “But I fear that I will soon be looking at a colossal building.” There is now a four-storey office building on the other side of the ditch, but two to six floors will soon be added. In this way, a total of six residential islands are created.
“Then it will be two to two and a half times as large,” says neighbor Remco Blankenzee. He certainly does not want the new building to tower above the trees. “Then the offices fall [red. straks dus woontorens] no longer lost in the natural environment, but there is a tiny bit of green around very large concrete colossus.”
Green is already scarce in the district, where the houses are close together. The municipality has promised that the neighborhood park will be preserved, but residents fear that the appearance of the neighborhood will be a lot less green with the arrival of the high residential towers.
Project developer Maarten Feilzer of Zadelhoff Vastgoedontwikkeling is happy to take away that concern. “We are building on the plots we already have and they are already very petrified. They are now offices with a very large parking lot, so it will only become greener in our plans.”
Since 2015, Zadelhoff has been trying to realize homes together with the co-owner of two office buildings Maarsen Groep. “We see a great opportunity to realize affordable rental homes in the ever-increasing housing shortage,” says Ton Boon van Maarsen Group. “That has not been possible so far, because we are dealing with ever-changing requirements and a lot of pressure on the city council from local residents who are concerned.”
The project developers are trying to accommodate residents with this plan. Together with the municipality, it has been decided that each complex may only have one height accent of a maximum of ten floors. “That is very far from the neighborhood,” Feilzer assures. Building smaller and therefore adding fewer apartments is not possible, according to him. “You have to have a certain volume to make it profitable.”
‘We also have children’
The lack of trust frustrates the developers. A banner now adorns one of their buildings with the text: ‘Where every construction initiative fails, the highest housing pressure in the country arises.’ “To give future residents a voice,” Boon explains. “Everyone in this country is shouting that we need homes for our children […] Either you build houses or you accept that there is a housing shortage.”
The local residents emphasize that they too do not close their eyes to the housing shortage. “We also have children,” explains Ted why the problem is close to his heart. “But on this scale, that is simply not possible. There are 3,000 households throughout Middenhoven and about 1,000 will be added.”
The resident of the neighborhood foresees an excessive burden on the neighborhood due to, for example, increased traffic and parking pressure. “And all those people will soon have to walk their dogs and recreate on that little piece of greenery.” The project developers are confident that the municipality can adapt facilities in the neighborhood to the volume and hope to finally get the green light to start building tonight.