ABP and Greystar invest €526m in Dutch housing

Dutch pension fund ABP and Greystar are jointly investing €526 mln into the Dutch housing market.

ABP Greystar residential

This marks their second major investment in the "Dutch Essential Housing Venture." This initiative focuses on building affordable, new rental homes across the Netherlands for a diverse range of residents, including first-time buyers, middle-income earners, students, essential workers, and retirees.
ABP is contributing €500 mln and Greystar €26 mln to this new phase. This follows an initial €420 mln investment last year, which is currently funding over 1,300 homes under construction in Leiden and The Hague.
The latest project, valued at approximately €200 mln, will develop "Merwede Blok 1" in Utrecht. This mixed-use complex will feature 779 rental units, including 300 student units, 305 mid-market units, 89 private sector units, and 85 short-stay units, ranging from 20 m² to 110 m². Over two-thirds of these homes will have regulated rents.
Construction for Merwede Blok 1, handled by VolkerWessels, is set to begin in December 2025 and finish by 2028. The homes will be highly sustainable, with an A+++ energy rating and BREEAM-NL Excellent In-Use certification.
With this new investment, the partnership's total portfolio now exceeds 2,000 homes, including 780 in Leiden (construction started September 2024), 560 in The Hague (construction started November 2024), and the upcoming 779 in Utrecht. Merwede Blok 1 is part of a larger transformation of Utrecht's Merwedekanaalzone into a sustainable, mixed-use urban neighbourhood.
Harmen van Wijnen, chairman of the ABP Board, stated: “With this second investment of €500 million, we are firmly pursuing our ambition to invest €10 bn by 2030 in high-impact projects in the Netherlands that simultaneously deliver good long-term returns. Dutch rental properties – particularly in the affordable and mid-market segments – offer stable returns that fluctuate with inflation. Thanks to this partnership, we can already realize more than 2,000 new, sustainable rental properties.” 
Mark Kuijpers, senior managing director Central Europe at Greystar, added: “With this investment, we are taking another important step in our collaboration with ABP and APG. This is our third joint investment in a year, totalling more than 2,000 new rental homes. In Utrecht, we are adding nearly 800 homes in a sustainable and mixed-use urban neighbourhood currently under development, a concrete example of how we contribute to future-proof, inclusive living environments in areas where demand is very high.”