Real estate developer Wima in Winschoten is going to adjust its business philosophy. The management is tired of the slow permit processes with local authorities and is focusing on existing real estate in which the company has to invest little or no renovation time.
Until now, the company has been engaged in real estate development or redevelopment of real estate projects. The transformation of the former sister flat in Winschoten into an apartment complex is a good example of this.
More irons in the fire
She has more irons in the fire in Pekela and Scheemda, but the implementation of the plans takes so much time that turnover and therefore growth lags behind the goals that the management has set for itself.
“Sometimes it takes municipalities a lot of time to complete a permit process due to staff shortages. If we want to achieve our target of adding approximately five hundred homes to our existing package within a few years, we must speed up,” explains spokesperson Jeroen Hemmes.
Markt shopping center in Ter Apel
That is why the company now also focuses on real estate that, apart from purchase, does not require renovation or redevelopment – i.e. a permit process -.
For a month now, Wima has been the owner of a shopping center and eight rental apartments on the Markt in the heart of Ter Apel. Until the takeover, the portfolio was in the hands of GJ de Haan in Stadskanaal. “We completed the deal in five days,” says Hemmes. The purchase involves several million euros.
Apartments
The shopping center and the apartments look great. An empty store is being renovated, but has already been rented out as of December. The shopping center contains sixteen companies such as Domino’s Pizza, an Op=Op store, Pearl, a hair salon and various restaurants.
It is not the first time that Wima has owned real estate in the municipality of Westerwolde. She is also busy developing a former discotheque in Vlagtwedde into an apartment complex. But this also applies: the municipality still has to give the green light.