This time it really has to happen: housing on the site of the old dairy in Exloo. Curious home seekers were allowed to view the plans on Friday and have a say during a walk-in afternoon.
It is the umpteenth attempt to beautify De Gloep, as the area is called. The site has been seen as a ‘rotten tooth’ for years. Various building plans have been reviewed in recent years.
Ambitious building plans were presented just two years ago: apartments of 110 square meters, luxury two and three-under-one hairdressers and detached houses. The houses would be finished with larch wood and thatched roofs. The asking price for the largest apartments was more than 800,000 euros, the ground-level homes were available from 475,000 euros.
But the number of buyers lagged behind. Looking back, the homes were ‘not in line with the market’, developer Sander Dragtstra from Emmen now says. “There was some enthusiasm for it, but not enough to continue.”
‘Want to know what people are looking for’
Dragtstra and partner MM Vastgoed went back to the drawing board. The homes that will be available for inspection on Friday in a room in hotel-restaurant ‘t Wapen van Exloo must become smaller and cheaper and better meet the wishes of the Exlo people.
An apartment complex is still planned on the spot where the dairy from 1894 is still standing; now with twelve apartments between 55 and 90 square meters in size and currently priced between 215,000 and 350,000 euros. They will go on sale after the summer. The rest of the site has room for 22 ground-level homes, including four detached. But it is not yet certain what kind of houses that will be exactly.
“That is why this walk-in is,” says Dragtstra. “We want to know what people are looking for here. Do they want a terraced house, a senior house or a life-resistant house? Then we will see if we can build on that.”
‘Prices better than two years ago’
Dragtstra does not yet want to say whether starter homes will be built this time. “What is a starter home these days? Are you talking about 300,000 euros? There will be terraced houses, so it could be possible.” Real estate agent Marcel van Dam from Exloo, also present during the walk-in afternoon, is more assertive. “We are committed to making living in Exloo possible for starters. That is not a goal, but a goal.”
Ellen Smit (25) is happy with that. She has been looking diligently for two years for her own house in Exloo, because she wants to live on her own. Together with her boyfriend, she gathers information on Friday afternoon. The couple is holding back, they just have to see if the plans will go through now. Still, Smith is positive. “The prices of the apartments are better than two years ago. And I don’t care how I live: in an apartment or in a house. I just want to live on my own.”