UvA starts sale of old University Library building on Singel
Now that the UvA has a new University Library on Vendelstraat, the old University Library building at Singel 421 is being sold permanently. It no longer fits in with the UvA’s campus concept. The UvA expects to receive “perhaps more than 100 million Euro’s” for it.
The former building of the University Library at Singel will be sold. Since last summer, various creative companies have been temporarily housed in the building. They rent the space from the UvA. But “temporary” may not be for much longer now that the building is being put up for sale, says Vice-President of the Board Richard Goldstein on the UvA website. “We understand that buildings evoke special memories. That is precisely why we want to invest carefully in places where our community can continue to develop.” This does not include the old University Library building, which was designed by architect Jan Leupen in the sixties.
4.8 million... guilders
In a way, the sale of the building makes sense, as it is separate from the University Quarter, as the campus on and around the former Binnengasthuis is called. The UvA wants to invest in clustering education and research in large campuses, and a building that falls outside this is better off being sold. Goldstein: ‘By making smarter use of our buildings, we can invest in healthy, accessible and sustainable spaces that focus on bringing our community together and encouraging collaboration.’
The former University Library building actually consists of several buildings: two historic ones called Handboogdoelen and the well-known white natural stone building with huge windows. It was referred to as “coffee machine architecture”. This new building was put into use in January 1967. The construction costs were estimated by the municipality at 4.8 million guilders (the UvA was still a municipal institution at the time) according to the Dutch daily Algemeen Handelsblad. Later, when the UvA became independent from the municipality, the building was transferred to the UvA, which can now cash in on it.
Prime location
The UvA can now start putting together a sales dossier, which a commercial real estate agent can use to market the approximately 15,000 square metres of floor space. According to former UvA Vice-President Hans Amman, that will not be too difficult “because it is an absolute prime location in Amsterdam”.
“In my time (2014), I often received spontaneous phone calls from real estate agents asking if we wanted to sell the building. At the time, it was already valued at 50 to 60 million euros. We assumed that the proceeds from the sale of the old University Library would cover the cost of the new one. We all know how that turned out: the new University Library ended up costing at least twice as much, so the sale of the old University Library should actually yield twice as much money as it did back then.”
100 million
“The UvA could perhaps get more than 100 million for it,” says Amman. A quick calculation shows that it could be much more, although it must be said that any buyer would have to carry out extensive renovations to turn it into a shop or other commercial space. It would also have to fit in with the municipal zoning plan for the area.
Purchase prices for commercial property in the city centre range from €9,000 to €12,000 per square metre, depending on the type of commercial property and the specific location and condition of the building. Assuming the selling price would be €9,000, the property could be sold for €135 million, which is much more than €100 million. Whether this is realistic is questionable, as it would require extensive demolition and/or renovation.
By way of comparison, in 2014, the UvA sold the Bungehuis on Spuistraat: a 6,000-square-metre property that ultimately fetched €22 million.
Housing Plan 2026
Whatever the UvA gets for the old University Library, it will always be a substantial amount, which is a nice boost at a time when the UvA is facing cutbacks, lower income due to a decline in the number of (international) students, and rising costs: not only has the renovation of the new University Library got quite out of hand, the renovation of the Oudemanhuispoort has yet to begin, another mammoth architectural and financial project.
We can see it all in the new Housing Plan 2026, which is currently being developed and on which decisions will be made early next year.
