The NAM has rejected the bid from the Wilhelmina Hospital. The WZA had made a bid for the former NAM office in Assen. The amount of the offer has not been announced.
“We are very disappointed that our bid was rejected. We had made a great bid with a strong social story,” said Erwin van Santen. “There is now a second round with multiple bidders, we have received that we have been beaten on both the amount of the offer and the condition.”
According to Van Santen, this is strange since the Dutch Petroleum Company (NAM) previously indicated otherwise. “The NAM has announced that they want to give the buildings a second life after their departure and that they will leave something behind for Assen and the surrounding area. Our plan responds perfectly to this, but the NAM is not sensitive to that.”
The letter from the WZA was signed by several strongholds from Assen and the surrounding area. “All the strongholds are also very disappointed. We really wanted to do something for Assen and the surrounding area. The architect had even already devised plans for the building.”
At the end of May it was announced that WZA had made an offer. According to the hospital, the former headquarters of the Dutch Petroleum Company (NAM) ‘offers opportunities for further future collaborations in a changed healthcare landscape.’
NAM recently announced that it was leaving Assen because it had become too big for their activities. The majority of the staff is moving to a location in Groningen’s Sappemeer.