Rotterdam is buying and refurbishing unused retail properties to prevent vacancies

The municipality of Rotterdam has started buying up unused retail properties at strategic locations to prevent vacancies, and to stop them from becoming rundown and creating a poorer experience for customers at neighboring properties. Additionally, Rotterdam wants to be in a better position to improve the shopping options.

The Fonds Vitale Kerngebieden, known in English as the Vital Core Areas Fund, was created for this reason. The buildings will be refurbished and transformed in an attempt to give the Rotterdam shopping districts "a boost."

The city wants to rent the buildings to suitable candidates and sell them after a maximum of five years. Interested business owners can hold preliminary discussions with the municipality. If they have an idea that aligns with the fund's goals, they can then apply for a subsidy. This applies to around 60 areas spread out over Rotterdam, Hoogvliet, Rozenburg, and Hoek van Holland.

The fund was created in 2021, but Alderman Robert Simons opened the first refurbished building on the Nieuwe Binnenweg this week, which is a shopping street in the city center. The city will now look for a suitable tenant for this building and the buildings that will become available in the near future.

"Rotterdammers want fun shopping streets, rich in diversity, where they like to go to shop," Simons said. "With the Fonds Vitale Kerngebieden, we are ensuring that we as a municipality can control this more."

The alderman added that he was happy that the city can now take the next step and give the first purchased buildings a new lease of life. The municipality would like to talk with partners in the city to help figure out what to do with the buildings.