The V&D building in the heart of Emmen is getting a new lease of life. Peter van Dijk is going to convert the rotten tooth in the heart of the city into a new residential shopping complex with allure. “The building will have completely new facades and there will be forty to fifty apartments on top.”
The telephone beeps at the beginning of the morning on the assembly line at Van Dijk. All people who congratulate him on the purchase of the property. “I have already received more than a hundred messages,” laughs Van Dijk. He has big plans for the building that housed the V&D until 2016.
“The new facades give the building a new look. Shops will remain on the ground floor and first floor. The current shops that are already here, H&M, Douglas, Xenos and Enter Fashion, will remain. These are shops with a good appearance. In addition We are going to build two to five floors of apartments on top of the building, with a total of between forty and fifty homes,” says Van Dijk. “In addition, there will be parking spaces and storage rooms for the residents in the basement.”
In addition to the V&D building, the adjacent Butterfly Passage will also be given a complete makeover. The roof is removed from the covered passage and the street takes on the same appearance as the rest of the Old Centre. There are no worries about vacancy. Van Dijk is confident that the future retail spaces will all be let. The residential tower with ten rental apartments in the passage will remain.
Since the bankruptcy of Vroom and Dreesmann, there were a few entrepreneurs who opened a shop in the building, but no more investments were made. And that was a thorn in the side of the well-known Emmenaar. “The old center is now looking great, the covered shopping center De Weiert is doing well and the Raadhuisplein is finished and has become super beautiful. But the V&D building in the center is still a big dissonance. For years it has been an obstacle. absolutely nothing happened.”
In addition to Van Dijk, the municipality of Emmen has also indicated that it will invest in the area, says the entrepreneur. “They will provide new paving, street furniture, lighting and there will be a lot of greenery in the area. This will be so cool. We are working on it fanatically.” This should ensure that it becomes an attractive place again, also in the evenings. “Now it is deserted and bare and that scary Butterfly Passage will be locked at night. Soon it will become a real shopping street. The apartments to be added will also make it live here at night.”
Article continues under the impressions of the future V&D building