Rotterdam in development

30 R O T T E R D A M I N O N T W I K K E L I N G | 2 0 1 8 he image of Rotterdam’s shopping streets is changing. Consumer behaviour is evolving, and more people are doing their shopping in a single store. This means the local butcher and baker have fewer customers. More and more consumers are also doing their shopping online, with the bigger suppliers, which means that smaller shops are less popular and are disappearing. In many cases there are no other shop owners in these buildings, which causes a great deal of vacancy at street level, which in turn opens up opportunities for criminality and creates a lot of unsafe places. In addition, Rotterdam’s attractiveness is only increasing: more and more people want to live in Rotterdam. That tightens the housing market, and house prices are rising disproportionately. Retail premises are often unusual buildings characterised by, for example, high ceilings, broad façades and a garden. Given the demand (for unusual properties) on the housing market, this means that vacant retail premises are in a good position to be converted into homes. Investigating new functions creates opportunities for the vacant buildings, so the Municipality of Rotterdam is stimulating transformation and supporting market actors in a variety of ways to carry out that transformation. We are making the transformation process transparent for them: what steps do they need to take? We are also facilitating the permit application process and offering a fixed point of contact. Finally, we are stimulating transformation by developing knowledge and networks, for which we are organising a variety of events with and for real estate entrepreneurs. The Jonkerlofts are an example of transformation achieved with the involvement of the Municipality of Rotterdam. On the Jonker Fransstraat, Maelion redeveloped a printing workshop and shopfront into four townhouses with patios. The original printing business, begun in 1952, was on the verge of bankruptcy, but the developer saw opportunities to transform this location into great townhouses. The challenge was to create attractive homes in a building that was never intended for that purpose. The rear had a closed façade, and the entrance gave onto the street. Moving the homes’ entrances to face the courtyard created more vibrancy, light and transparency, qualities that are good for both the new residents and the people living nearby. This improved the living environment for the entire neighbourhood. There was an additional challenge: to bring the homes up to building regulation standards. The municipality can offer guidance with this kind of challenge, and also offers support in other areas of the transformation process. For more information and to get in touch with the municipalities: www.rotterdam.nl/ wonen-leven/transformatie-vastgoed or transformateivastgoedSO@rotterdam.nl T RETAIL TRANSFORMATION