Focus on flexibility
Each year, FGH Bank published the FGH Vastgoedbericht, a market report listing the major
trends and developments in the real estate market. According to the FGH Vastgoedbericht in
2014, the emphasis in the coming years will be on flexibility. The supply of properties is
currently out of balance, since there is oversupply of buildings for some activities while for
other activities suitable properties are scarce. Part of the stock will have to be used differently
or transformed into real estate that is future proof. When developing property or considering
existing real estate, FGH Bank considers the available alternatives for the use of a property.
Real estate has to be easily adaptable and be able to meet the changing demands of society
and different tenants.
The whole text of the FGH Vastgoedbericht 2014 is available on the website of FGH Bank.
Increase in assets managed by Bouwfonds Investment Management
Bouwfonds Investment Management focuses on investment products in the sectors of real
estate, infrastructure and natural resources. Within these categories, Bouwfonds Investment
Management focuses specifically on five sectors: commercial real estate, housing, parking
garages, communication infrastructure and agriculture and farming.
Bouwfonds Investment Management made various acquisitions in 2014 on behalf of the various
funds, including the acquisition of the Mahler parking garage in Amsterdam for EUR 130 million.
With its 1,755 parking spaces, Mahler is one of the largest parking garages in the Netherlands
and has five underground parking levels.The garage is now being operated under a long term
lease. Various other fund initiatives are in preparation. Assets under management at Bouwfonds
Investment Management rose by EUR 0.5 billion in 2014 to EUR 6.4 billion.
MAB Development
The projects of MAB Development mainly concern a combination of functions with a strong
accent on retail. Rabo Real Estate Group decided to phase out its activities in the project
development of commercial real estate in 2013. No new projects will be started. The phasing
out of the organisation was accelerated in 2014. The foreign offices have now closed and the
office in the Netherlands will close at the end of March 2015. The remaining projects of MAB
have been transferred to other divisions of Rabo Real Estate Group.
The largest multifunctional building in the Netherlands, De Rotterdam, was delivered in 2013.
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat dubbed this building the 'Best Tall Building of
Europe' in 2014.
PalaisQuartier, Domus and ODE
The sale of the Domus shopping centre in Paris was completed in March 2014. The remaining
lots of the Oosterdokseiland project in Amsterdam were transferred in September 2014 to BPD,
which will take over responsibility for the last remaining development of this project.
Rabo Real Estate Group sold its largest real estate project, the PalaisQuartier in Frankfurt am
Main, in November 2014. The sale price of approximately EUR 800 million led to a clear book
profit. Deutsche Asset Wealth Management, a division of Deutsche Bank, was the buyer.
ECE also has a 10% interest in the project.
Annual Report 2014 Rabobank Group
