Wittenborg Builds 75 Apartments For International Students in Apeldoorn

18.01.2022

Wittenborg Builds 75 Studio Apartments on De Ruyterstraat

In order to further develop and expand its services in a time plagued by housing shortages, Wittenborg is building 75 new apartments for international students in Apeldoorn. The apartments, which will be built by the construction company Weever Bouw, will be located on De Ruyterstraat, close to the city centre as well as to Amaliapark. With an area of 18 square metres, each apartment will be a studio with its own bathroom and kitchen. Additionally, all units will be sustainable and energy-neutral.

The fully furnished apartments will be partly furnished in cooperation with Foenix, a local initiative focused on providing jobs for people with poor employment prospects by, among other things, operating a number of second-hand stores across Apeldoorn.

As Wittenborg’s CEO Maggie Feng says: “It would maybe be easier, even cheaper, to buy 75 new sets of everything, all with the same colour and shape, but second-hand items have a story, they have lived a life. Tiny pieces of the stories of Apeldoorn and its people will be welcoming the students to their new home. On top of that, it is more sustainable.”

Feng, furthermore, highlights the role Foenix plays in Apeldoorn, adding that Wittenborg is glad to support its mission.

Wittenborg prides itself on providing initial accommodation for all newly arrived international students, as students really value this service. Currently, the university of applied sciences has accommodation capacity for 86 beds, out of which 45 are spread across nine apartments and 41 are located in the student dorm at 3 De Ruyterstraat.

As Bahar, an MBA student from Iran who has benefited from this service, puts it: “It was really good to be able to have peace of mind about where you are going to live. It makes the whole experience less scary, especially for people who are coming from countries like Iran, as it is really hard to find a place for them. I saw many of my friends who went to other universities that do not provide accommodation struggle. This way, I had time to get used to my new environment, step by step, which made it easier for me to find my own place later on. So I really appreciated it.”

The new apartments are scheduled to be ready by November 22. For an extensive newspaper article about the new apartments (in Dutch), see here.