Retail Fund transforms retail property into sustainable apartments

The Bouwinvest Retail Fund has transformed former office space above jewellery store Schaap & Citroen in Eindhoven to create two sustainable apartments. The apartments are gas-free, have a green roof and sustainable (energy) facilities.  The store and apartments at Demer 48 in Eindhoven are part of the Bouwinvest Retail Fund’s portfolio of assets.  

The realisation of the two apartments stems from the sustainability drive that the Bouwinvest Retail Fund has been pushing for some time and is fully in line with Bouwinvest’s ambition to be Paris Proof by 2045. A Paris Proof building is natural gas-free and virtually energy neutral. The sustainability in this building is far-reaching: the roof of the store and the facades have been fitted with extra insulation, heat pumps with low-temperature floor heating have been installed, window frames have been replaced, a green roof has been installed and the new kitchens are fully circular. This makes Demer 48 a showcase of a Paris Proof building. The renovation took about six months.  

The apartments are located on the corner of Demer and Vrijstraat. Schaap & Citroen Jewellers has been leasing the store from Bouwinvest since September 2022 and opened for business this spring.  

Living above stores 
As we said in the Bouwinvest Outlook, realising residential space above stores is a recommendation that cities would do well to follow. The scarcity of housing and the migration out of the city, which has been going on for some time, is creating opportunities to get successful transformations like this one in Eindhoven off the ground. By adapting real estate to the demands of our time, Bouwinvest is creating attractive and sustainable properties that will continue to meet the needs of consumers and tenants in the future. To achieve this, Bouwinvest works closely with tenants, local authorities, developers and estate agents. In this way, the property remains an attractive investment, while also helping to meet society’s housing and sustainability challenge.  

About the Bouwinvest Retail Fund 
Bouwinvest’s Retail Fund focuses on the best shopping cities and busiest shopping streets (Experience) and district shopping centres for daily purchases (Convenience). The fund has net asset value of € 1.1 billion, has a clear investment strategy and has received the MSCI award for best performing specialist fund in the Netherlands for the last four years in a row. In addition, with a five-star rating in the Global Real Estate Benchmark (GRESB), on the sustainability front the fund has been in the top 20 percent of the best-performing real estate funds worldwide for many years. Would you like to know more? If so, take a look at our Dutch Retail Fund page or contact us.