Project De Trappenberg: a combination of healthcare and real estate

Amvest Living & Care Fund “De Trappenberg project is being realised by Waterland RE and Amvest, the housing developer and manager that PFZW and Aegon started in 1997. Amvest manages a number of real estate funds, including the Amvest Living & Care Fund, which contains all investments focused on housing and care. This fund will soon own all homes on De Trappenberg. Since 2017, I have represented PFZW as a shareholder in the fund. Since then 500 million euros have been made available. Together with Amvest and co-shareholder Aegon, I weigh up risk, return and impact for each project. Real estate is becoming more and more sustainable - we use less energy and emit less CO2 - but the investment must also make good returns. As a future pensioner, I think that's important too.”

De Trappenberg
“We invest worldwide, but De Trappenberg is around the corner. One block of approximately 50 semi-protected housing units accommodate patients with dementia. The front door is unlocked, but the residents can be traced. The remaining part of the homes is for seniors with a light to medium demand for care who can live independently. We want to create communities where people interact and look out for each other. There will be a community manager from Amvest and commercial facilities, such as physiotherapy, an office for the home care institution, and perhaps also a general practitioner. With this, the project fits in perfectly with the four important themes we work with: demography (population ageing and healthier ageing), urbanisation (residential care locations and traffic flow), climate change (sustainable homes), and technology (innovation of heat installations).”

More efficient care and flow on the housing market
“The healthcare system is bursting at the seams in many facets, especially the labour market problems are increasing each day. The more serious care is scaled down and a care indication of 6 or higher is needed to be able to go into a home with permanent care. More and more home care is needed, which can be given very efficiently at De Trappenberg as everyone lives nearby. In addition, the joint activities and social interaction keep the residents healthier and more active, delaying their demand for formal medical care. The houses are also life-course-proof. If a resident's demands change, care can be adjusted accordingly without the resident having to move. The availability of these 340 care homes therefore also promote the flow on the housing market.”

Sustainable homes
“According to some reports, 40% of global CO2 emissions are related to real estate. We have an important role to play in this – also along with Amvest. As one of the larger retirement funds in the world, PFZW has the capital to make a change. Simultaneously, real estate is becoming increasingly sustainable due to ever developing laws and regulations. In addition, we set (sustainability) requirements for whoever uses our locations, which our external managers discuss with them on a regular basis. The homes on The Trappenberg will also be energy efficient with a lower energy bill and less CO2 emissions.”

Making an impact
“With the Living & Care Fund and projects such as De Trappenberg, we contribute to solutions for a number of current social themes. In those solutions the financial strength of PFZW really comes into its own, because it is capital-intensive and concerns the healthcare sector. We also know how to combine this with an attractive return and that makes this a win-win situation for all stakeholders. A great example of an investment with which we make an impact. Making such an impact more transparent and communicating it better is one of the best, but also most difficult aspects of my profession. We can formulate certain objectives, but measuring the real impact can only be done over time and in some facets that is quite difficult. We can easily indicate the number of care homes, but exactly how many FTEs we save by putting the people in need of care together is already more difficult, as is measuring how happy the residents will become. We have our work cut out for us.”

Future plans
“In most real estate investments, an exit is always sought in the end: the sale of the project. That moment has not yet been set for this project. The leases will be indexed to a large extent and because of the stability of the cash flows, we will be less affected by the negative market conditions than other real estate. Soon we will be able to offer 340 homes in De Trappenberg. We want to increase this number by realizing more projects like this in the Amvest Living & Care Fund.

The first homes and care functions on De Trappenberg will be completed in early 2026.”
Image: www.detrappenberg.nl 

Back to PGGM Investments