Bouwinvest Healthcare Fund invests in residential care project in Groningen

The Bouwinvest Dutch Institutional Healthcare Fund has made a new investment in the residential care segment. The fund has acquired the Helpermaar residential care project, located on the corner of Ketwich Verschuurlaan and Vasalislaan in Groningen, from by AIG Care & Living B.V. The investment is fully in line with the Bouwinvest Healthcare Fund’s acquisition strategy. The project will be operated by Senior Living B.V., a subsidiary of Korian.  

Start of construction and completion  

Construction is scheduled to start in mid-2024, with completion expected in the summer of 2025. The project comprises 37 care units and is located in the southern section of the city of Groningen, in the Helpermaar planning area. This location is known as a high-quality residential location and is just a 10-minute drive from the motorway.  

Affordability and sustainability  

This is a new-build project in the affordable mid-segment of the private residential care sector. There is a growing demand for this type of care due to the ‘extramuralisation’ of elderly care. The project will be delivered completely natural gas-free and will comply with all Paris Proof requirements, which will involve additional commitment to sustainability.  

Operation and facilities  

Senior Living B.V. will operate the residential care complex under the Stepping Stones label. This label offers elderly people with dementia a pleasant, dignified, loving and affordable place to live. In addition to care units, the building will also offer a number of communal areas. The plans include a terrace, green areas and parking spaces in the surrounding grounds.  

Future vision  

Helma Spuls, Director Dutch Healthcare Investments: “This acquisition is in line with the Healthcare Fund’s strategy. We are seeing increasing demand for assisted living and new-build projects enable us to optimise sustainability. Groningen is an important market for us, given the limited supply in this segment and the growing demand.”  

AIG Care & Living acquired this building plot, the final part of the redevelopment of the former Martini hospital, from VolkerWessels Vastgoed. “After we had analysed and discussed the location with care operator Stepping Stones, it quickly became clear that it was suitable in every respect for a development into a residential care complex for the elderly: the tranquillity and space, while still offering proximity to metropolitan amenities, combined with the high demand for small-scale living with high-quality care,” says AIG’s Bart van Venrooij.  

For Bouwinvest, this investment underlines the Healthcare Fund’s ambition to expand to over € 800 million in invested assets in 2025, exclusively for the pension fund for the construction industry bpfBOUW. With this investment, Bouwinvest aims to achieve both a positive social return and stable financial returns.