Eindhoven is facing an increasing demand for business centres, both for mainstream businesses and start-ups. That’s what the Mayor and the councillors are writing in response to the VVD’s questions. The VVD posed these questions after Rockstart, one of the candidates for a place in the Van der Meulen Ansems complex on the Vestdijk, announced that the council had acted much too slowly in the development of the “VDMA”.
Start-ups, in particular, are on the rise and, as the council notes, “they are looking for places where there are cross-overs between like-minded, but certainly also interdisciplinary companies.” This can be achieved in different types of places: “From rough-and-ready breeding grounds to state-of-the-art ‘business centres’. Whether one or the other environment is more popular depends very much on the type of start-up. Entrepreneurs find them on the High Tech Campus, at TU/e and in the Klokgebouw (e.g. FoundedbyAll), for example, but also in other locations in the city. We expect that this need will continue to grow.”
The council expects that Rockstart will also reapply for the VDMA property once the decision-making process has been completed at the council. “It’s not right that Rockstart would withdraw. They think it takes a long time, but the central location in Eindhoven and the character of the building is of such interest to them that they will take a serious look at the VDMA once the decision has been made.”
The Mayor and Executive Board indicates the need for caution when it comes to the VDMA. “The municipal organisation has prepared a file for the development of the VDMA, which ensures that the match factory will continue to progress.” According to the Mayor and Executive Board, the decision-making process will take place “in the short term”.
Read about Arjen Heus’ new ideas for the VDMA complex here.
Photos Ralph Roelse
